British producers Working Title, have borrowed from the classics for their hugely successful romantic comedies like the Bridget Jones movies. Now they go right to the source with an adaptation of Jane Austen's, Pride and Prejudice.
The sets and scenery are gorgeous
The Bennetts – Donald Sutherland and Brenda Blethyn – have five eligible daughters and no money. Mrs. Bennett is overjoyed when Charles Bingley, Simon Woods, makes a bee line for eldest daughter Jane, played by Rosamund Pike. But his best friend Will Darcy, Matthew MacFadyen, is suspicious of the Bennetts' motives, even though he's attracted to the independently minded Elizabeth – Kiera Knightley. Darcy and Bingley's high society families get in the way of true love, including Caroline Bingley played by Kelly Reilly.
Having never seen the many TV versions of Pride and Prejudice, I was pleasantly surprised by how well this adaptation has captured the wit and character of Austen's writing. The sets and scenery are gorgeous to look at, but director Joe Wright has gone for more realism in the costuming and dialogue. Rather than framing everything like an oil painting, the camera closes in on the human drama. Kiera Knightley's faultless performance works well against MacFadyen's subtle, smouldering masculinity. The film doesn't quite deliver the shrewd social observations of the novel, but if you think of it as an entertaining gothic romance, you won't be disappointed
