Emma

Plot synopsis:
Inventor Frederick Smith's wife dies during the birth of their fourth baby, Ronnie, leaving the family in the care of their faithful housekeeper Emma. Twenty years later, after Smith's inventions have made the family rich, the affable Ronnie, who is Emma's favorite, arrives home from college, announcing that he wants to quit school and become a pilot. The other Smith children, Bill, Gypsy and Isabelle, have all grown into spoiled adults, but Emma lovingly indulges them all, making excuses for their bad behavior to their father and everyone else.
As Emma leaves for her first vacation in thirty-two years with the family, the absent-minded Frederick sadly takes her to the station. She gets cold feet and decides to stay home, but Frederick won't let her and decides to go along with her to Niagara Falls. Waiting for their train, Frederick proposes and Emma accepts, even though she is afraid that people will talk. When the children learn about the marriage, Ronnie is happy for them, but the other children are embarrassed by the blot on their social record. On their honeymoon, as the happy Frederick and Emma row on the lake, they are teased by some young vacationers, prompting Frederick to take the oars from Emma. The exertion causes a mild heart attack and they return home. As the contented Frederick listens to Emma sing to him, he dies, and a short time later, the family learns that he has left his entire estate to Emma.
Though Emma wants to give the money back to the children, all of them except Ronnie turn on her and threaten to prove that their father was crazy when he wrote the will. Emma throws them out and awaits the lawsuit they threaten while the loyal Ronnie goes to Canada for a flying assignment. Because the will cannot be broken, the children go to the district attorney to have him bring murder charges against Emma, using distorted testimony by Mathilda, the maid. When Ronnie hears about the trial, he desperately flies East to help Emma but is killed while flying through a dangerous storm.
Even though her life is in peril, she won't allow her kind attorney, Haskins, to defame the character or motives of the children. Her emotional plea for them in court results in her acquittal, but Emma's relief is ruined when she learns of Ronnie's death. A short time later, Emma gives all of the money to the children, telling Haskins that she hopes that now they will think better of her. After she sadly views Ronnie's body, Isabell, Bill and Gypsy beg her forgiveness and want her to stay with them, but she refuses, saying that her work with them is finished, but no matter what happens or where they all are, they will still belong to each other.
At a new position, Emma happily attends a doctor's large family and is pleased when the wife agrees to name her new baby Ronnie at Emma's request.

Tags: romantic, comedy, satire, entertaining

Review:
I was so impressed with Doug McGrath's film version of the Jane Austen novel "Emma," and I loved the music score by Rachel Portman so much, that when I went to the video store one day and discovered the two had re-united for "Nicholas Nickleby" I immediately rented it without any other consideration.I have read the book, and for those overly-critical fans of this Jane Austen adaptation, I don't know what else McGrath could have done to more perfectly capture the spirit and major plot elements of Miss Austen's work, especially given the limitations of a two hour movie (which some have complained about being too long!).
And as far as Gwen Paltrow's accent is concerned, I must confess I wasn't too familiar with her when I saw this at the theater initially, and I was absolutely convinced at the time that she was an English actress!I am taken aback by those who criticized the film for its lush scenery.
If your idea of escapist fare is something bleaker, then perhaps you should rent something like "Death Wish III!"The English country settings are as attractive and charming as the cast, and combine with the story and soundtrack for entertainment that makes you not tire of repeat viewings.
The story is often amusing, endearing, and at times, quite touching.I have seen many competent Jane Austen book adaptations but this is without question my favorite..
What a delightful film...Accompanied by Oscar-winning Composer RACHEL PORTMAN's lush, emotional and dreamy music, this film remains a pure delight worthy of viewing more than once a year.Incredible casting...Gwyneth Paltrow was perfect for the role of Emma.
It is a classic scene, one to be rewound and played over & over...The ending is right up there with "Sense & Sensibility" and provides one of life's greatest lessons about how one should marry one's best friend...I hope that this film delights you all as much as it has myself.I ADORED it!.
But if you're willing to view Emma with the belief that this movie is loosely based on the novel, and enjoy it on its own merits, you'll truly enjoy yourself.Emma (Gwyneth Paltrow) is the apple of her aged father's eye and spends her ample free time trying to play matchmaker.
She may have won her Oscar for Shakespeare but she should be remembered for this.Of course, she's surrounded by a great supporting cast including Toni Collette, Greta Scacchi, Juliette Stevenson et al...Jeremy Northam is very appealing as the love interest, even if the script wallows a bit in his declaration of love to Paltrow (in the process, allowing all of the tension to drain out of their relationship); several years on, Ewan's hair is a little easier to take than it was in '96 and, personally, I find puckish Alan Cumming a grating presence in anything nowadays.
Jane Austen would definitely approve of this one!Gwyneth Paltrow does an awesome job capturing the attitude of Emma.
With a beautiful setting, wonderful costumes, and an outstanding cast (have I mentioned the gorgeous Jeremy Northam?), Emma is a perfect ten!.
`Emma,' based on the novel by Jane Austen and written for the screen and directed by Douglas McGrath, stars the lovely Gwyneth Paltrow in the title role.
Jeremy Northam also acquits himself extremely well in the role of Knightley, and like Paltrow, seems suited to the genre-- in the right role, that is; his performance in the more recent `The Golden Bowl,' in which he played an Italian Prince, was less than satisfying.
Also excellent in supporting roles and worthy of mention are Toni Collette, as Emma's friend Harriet Smith; and Alan Cumming, as the Reverend Elton.
Emma (1996)I like Gwyneth Paltrow, and I love Jane Austen.
Good, but not brilliant.The cinematography is inventive, crossing at times the border to gimmickry, but it certainly avoids the trap of making this look like a boring TV soap in costumes, given that the entire story is dialogue-driven.The acting is competent.
Like I said, as a Jane Austen fan there were things I would have liked to have seen included that weren't but that would have made it much longer than permissible for a feature length film and as it was I felt they really encapsulated the story well.
<<<sigh>>> Sophie Thompson's turn as Ms Bates is virtuoso acting of the finest (oh, napkins, sorry!) and the rest of the cast is no disappointment either - Toni Colette brings a lot of Muriel to her Harriet, and Ewan McGregor is convincingly charming - and Alan Cumming and Juliet Stevenson are the perfect "impossible" couple!Of course the sets and costumes, and the beautiful soundtrack contribute a lot to the feelgood, almost Hobbiton-like atmosphere of the movie - although as far as cinematography and art decoration go, it's almost a case of visual overload.
Pity that the final proposal scene goes on for just a little too long - cut two shots (I can think of exactly which ones!) and it would have been much more in keeping with the rest of the movie.Gosh, I just realize (by reading the imdb listings) that I've seen Jeremy Northam in at least three movies without even being aware that it was him - seems he's got a lot more going for him, as an actor, than just being a gentlemanlike English heartthrob!
My favorite Jane Austen adaptation so far - though perhaps Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility is, strictly speaking, the better movie, this one is closest to my heart - and I've certainly seen it many more times!
There are many problems with the film, already mentioned in a few reviews; simply put it is a hammed-up, over-acted, chintzy mess from opening credits to butchered ending.While many characters are mis-cast and neither Ewan McGregor nor Toni Collette puts in a performance that is worthy of them, the worst by far is Paltrow.
As for the cast:  Gwyneth Paltrow makes a rather shallow heroine (but then any 'hot' American star would be questionable in the role), Toni Collette is miscast, and poor Ewan McGregor is made to look laughable!I really could not say a good thing about this film.
I honestly had somewhat high expectations when I first began to watch this movie, but it turned out to be probably one of the most boring films I have ever seen!First of all, the pace is incredibly slow, so it seems much longer than it is (and it's not short).I'm sure when Jane Austen wrote the book, she made it several pages long, filled it with description, and didn't intend for people to read in in one day, or it might drag and lose it's appeal, which "Emma" most certainly did.
Jane Austen's novel, possibly her best, comes to the screen in yet another version, putting American Gwyneth Paltrow in the lead alongside Jeremy Northam as Mr Knightley.
Sophie Thompson gives a good and touching performance as the chattering Miss Bates, and Paltrow manages to keep a convincing English accent throughout.One curious thing is that in the scene where Emma and Knightley dance together has the same music as the dance in the 1990s BBC Pride and Prejudice between Elizabeth and Darcy.
there were so many little things wrong with this version of emma- miss paltrow's slouching form, toni collette's overly wide-eyed expressions of innocence, and did the actress who played miss bates have to be so squeaky and breathless?
granted the makeup, costumes, and lighting cannot compare to the hollywood edition of emma, but the dialogue is more true to jane austen's book and the actors' style, carriage, and demeanor are all more suitable for the time period.
How sweet.Gwyneth Paltrow shimmers in this title role, as young Miss Emma Woodhouse, who feels a need to be puppetmaster in her own petite township of England.
Miss Bates says everything three times and Mrs. Bates never hears it, and when Emma is disgracefully mean to poor Miss Bates it is the honorable Mr. Knightley, her brother-in-law, in a warm and observant performance by Jeremy Northam, who rakes her over the coals, giving her a hard-line lesson on her moral duties under the class system.
However, he has other intentions as well, and in due time Austen sees that everyone gets what they have coming, or for Emma maybe a bit more.The movie tapers the crevice between deftly manipulated social satire and soap opera, but it feeds on a spry intellect and a resilient comic tone.
I saw this movie being a Jane Austen addicted and always feeling doubtful about cinematographic rendering of the complexity of her novels: well, this transposition is simply accurate, intelligent, delicate, careful, tactful, respectful, intense, in a word, perfect!"Emma" is one of Austen's most delightful and funny novels, thanks to overall irony pervading situations and characters.
The cast is really talented and offer very good and extremely brilliant performances: a young Gwyneth Paltrow is particularly suitable for this role (nowadays she would be probably too mature for it), Toni Colette is simply great.
Since then I have become a very big Ewan McGregor fan but I still can't bring myself to forgive this movie's existence.My sister has always been a huge Jane Austen fan and because of that, I have been subjected to various of the classics, Emma being one of them.
Gwyneth Paltrow is OK and her English accent is pretty good but again, I preferred Kate Beckinsale's Emma.
There are excellent support performances from Toni Collette, Juliet Stephenson and Sophy Thompson.The script is often played too much for laughs, the book is a comedy, but there are too many set-piece gags here, and also the Frank Churchill subplot is almost completely absent.My biggest criticism is the scenery.
With so many screen versions of Emma knocking about I decided to give the sumptuous light hearted romp starring Gwyneth Paltrow with her cut glass English accent.Emma Woodhouse is a confident woman from a wealthy background who spends her days playing cupid by matchmaking.
Emma is well meaning but like everyone else is firmly rooted to the class system of the day.The film is rather light and airy, nice to look at, well acted but also rather boring.
After watching Gwyneth Paltrow in The Talented Mr. Ripley and Shakespeare in Love, I did expect the movie to be great.
I view this movie several times each year and never tire of the story and the wonderful chemistry between Paltrow and Northam....the two are a complete joy to watch.
Although i do not normally like Gwyneth Paltrow, I found that she fitted the part of Emma perfectly.And Mr Knightly, well that was the highlight of the movie as it was in the book.
Of course brilliant performances by Gwyneth Paltrow (one of the best actresses) and Jeremy Northam (the rest of crew are great also).
I would recommend Emma to anyone who enjoy Jane Austen's novels and like appealing romantic comedies..
I bought this movie not out of a burning desire to see an adaptation of Jane Austen on screen, but to aid me in my quest to understand 'Emma' which I had the 'pleasure' of studying as an exam text for my A-Levels.With the book, at first I despised it.
After all reading four-hundred pages of Austen can be a little bit tedious, and takes a considerable amount of time longer to do, than watching a ninety minute film like 'Emma'..
Playing a flawed but sympathetic character is not easy, but Gwyneth Paltrow brings it off beautifully, tempering Emma's faults with warmth, humor and charm, making her as likeable on screen as she was in print.
However, I was pleasantly surprised and found it much more enjoyable than the Kate Beckinsale version.Gwyneth did a decent job, although I must state that the script portrayed Emma as a terribly spoilt snob, and I rather disliked her in the film and couldn't understand why Mr Knightley would admire her so when really, she was just dreadful.
I certainly didn't care for Emma one bit and would have preferred it had the totally bland but sweet Harriet ended up with him instead.Mr Knightley was a far better character in the film; far less critical, more gentle and appealing, and not the stiff, critical bore I found him to be in the novel.
And the casting of Jeremy Northam was pure genius, for every girl knows that having a hunky romantic lead is essential in an Austen movie.This film was well made and did justice to the novel.
By the time Emma Thompson was attempting her Austen-esque witticisms as she received her screenplay adaptation Academy Award for Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen was already finished as a viable movie source.
Great turn by Gwyneth Paltrow in this Jane Austen adaptation.
The film runs a little longer than seems necessary, and gets off to a slow, fitful start (Douglas McGrath's screenplay is not the equal of the other Austen adaptations), but Paltrow keeps us interested until the story's inherent romantic magic begins to weave its spell.
Speaking of star-making turns, Emma is likely to open eyes to the talent of its leading lady, Gwyneth Paltrow who is rather good in the main lead.
In Jane Austin's EMMA, our protagonist Emma (Paltrow) is a 22-year-old keen matchmaker in rural 1800s England, especially when she successfully acts as a go-between between her governess Miss Taylor (Scacchi) and the middle-aged widower Mr. Weston (Cosmo), at their wedding, she is determined to find a proper suitor for her kind-hearted but diffident friend Harriet Smith (Collette), this time her aim is Mr. Elton (Cumming) from a rich family.
A period costume picture strikes directly at my soft spot, and the overall performance is suitably orchestrated, Paltrow previses her triumph in Shakespeare IN LOVE (1998, 7/10) here she liberates a force of dearness despite of Emma's inbuilt flaws, she is a young lass hobbled in her rustic vantage point, and a fetching soul awaits her prince charm to pay her dues; Northam would also reprise his good-hearted gentleman stature in AN INDEAL HUSBAND (1999, 8/10), a too-perfect and role model with impeachable moral integrity may fall into blandness, but he surely peps up the much-anticipated game-changer with his ear-friendly cadence.
a delightful feel good movie (by the way Mr Knightly (Jeremy Northam) is 6'2"..
The acting is superb, with Gwyneth Paltrow as Emma and Jeremy Northam as Mr. Knightly.
I am a great fan of English-style movies and was sure that casting a Hollywood actress in the title role would completely ruin the film.
A nice film with great scenery and top class acting.Gwyneth Paltrow was good in the title roll,but somehow she did not remind me of the girl described in Jane Austens book.Here in Australia the film was shown on commercial TV and as usual would have been ruined by 10 breaks for advertisements.Luckily I was able to watch it after taping..
Most of the talk about Gwyneth is about her oscar winning role in Shakespeare in Love but I believe Emma to be at a stand still with that movie they are very much equal in every aspect.
It's hard to do a movie adaptation of the work of ANY author of that time, especially while keeping the movie length under two hours.Paltrow has a near perfect English accent, and is a charming if silly Emma.
It is an entertaining movie with fine actors: Gwyneth Paltrow is better than in Shakespeare In Love, Jeremy Northam is convincing as a fine specimen of a gentleman of the English gentry, the always reliable Toni Collette, Juliet Stevenson and especially Sophie Thompson support convincingly.
Jeremy Northam, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Ewan McGregor have particularly memorable performances, though the parts they play seem unusual for them, especially for Paltrow.Romantic comedies, in my opinion, are often on a brainless level, so it is nice when a movie comes along that is both intelligent and romantic at the same time.
The casting is good.Gwyneth Paltrow, who is my all time favourite actress, gives an OK performance.
This was the first movie to introduce us to Gwyneth Paltrow's perfect English accent, but this adaptation of Austen's book is memorable for no other reason.The actors overall are by far too good looking for their parts, and the film deviats from the book in too many ways to make it very enjoyable to a true Austen fan.Overall, Paltrow is good, and the rest is passable, but if you want to see a good adaptation of this novel, watch the UK's ITV adaptation from 1997, starring Kate Beckinsale..
This first thing to say about Jane Austen's Emma is that to really have done it justice it should have been over six episodes like the great 1995 Pride and Prejudice!
Jane Austen fans were lucky to have the British doing some of her works with taste and style and this is one of the more enjoyable versions of an Austen novel.GWYNETH PALTROW (never a favorite of mine) is the headstrong Emma, a matchmaker at heart who plays Cupid for some of her best friends, with disastrous results and is mistaken about the intentions of every eligible male.
Emma is all that is good, all that is lovely in film-making.
Gwyneth Paltrow is a perfect amiable and pretty Emma, while Jeremy Northam is a real treat as Mr Knightley: full of charm and wit, and having a smile of his own, which is certain to gain the heart of female viewers :) Personally, I found this adaptation much more enjoyable (and less gloomy) than the Andrew Davies' version with Kate Beckinsale.
But "Emma" is quite good, Gwyneth Paltrow is an excellent actress in her role as the busybody matchmaker interfering in other people's lives and Jeremy Northam is perfectly suited to the role as the brother-in-law and sparring partner with whom, as the audience immediately understands, she will eventually realize she is in love.
I loved Gwyneth Paltrow as Emma and Jeremy Northam as Mr. Knightley was an excellent chose.