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Craig Younkin
Movie Review
Pride & Prejudice
By Craig Younkin Published October 26, 2005
US Release: November 11, 2005
Directed by: Joe Wright
Starring: Keira Knightley , Matthew MacFadyen
PG
Running Time: 127 minutes
Domestic Box Office: $38,019,000
Directed by: Joe Wright
Starring: Keira Knightley , Matthew MacFadyen
PG
Running Time: 127 minutes
Domestic Box Office: $38,019,000
C
At two hours and twenty minutes, the many ballroom dance sequences, long roving camera shots and even longer conversations about everything from class to love is numbing.
Keira Knightley has prided herself on taking roles that magnify women as more than just perky love interests. She was no damsel in distress in "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "King Arthur,? and she put on a real hardcore bad ass attitude for "Domino.? It seems only fitting that she take the title role in this new adaptation of Jane Austen?s "Pride and Prejudice.? My only question is why did they have to remake this movie again at all? This story is just plain old-hat by now.
The film takes place in England during the late 18th century. Knightly plays Lizzie, the tomboy out of the five middle class Bennett sisters. She and her other sisters have been taught by their mother (Brenda Blethyn) that finding a good husband is imperative, which was the best a woman could hope for at that time. A wealthy good husband is even better. When the noble Mr. Bingley (Simon Woods) arrives in town, Lizzie?s older sister Jane (Rosamund Pike) is immediately smitten with the gentlemen. Only along with him comes Mr. Darcy (Mathew MacFadyen), a seemingly proud and pompous aristocrat.
Lizzie is book smart and thinks Darcy is everything mentioned above. He thinks she is just another pretty face looking for a hand out. A battle of the sexes and classes emerge, even while the two have suppressed feelings for one another. They continue to meet, hate each other, and do it all over again until over the top passions finally win out. There is one scene in which they shout at each other in the rain and another in which he emerges from the fog with a declaration of love. Both scenes will have women in a tizzy and will send men running for the exits.
Earlier this year, director Gurinder Chadha brought us a modern version of Pride and Prejudice, called ?Bride and Prejudice.? It was an Indian-American conflict instead of rich and poor. The movie was upbeat with a great blend of pop and Indian music. Only the best part about it was that it knew that love stories based on class have been done so many times that the idea has now grown cobwebs. Making it a movie about cultures is something new that still manages to convey Austen?s original purpose of not judging a person before meeting them.
"Pride" is just plain tired. Because of their rank, the Bennett sisters must contend with thinking about their own financial stability while at the same time with rumors that they are gold diggers. There is nothing terribly shocking about what happens to them and the story is told very slowly. At two hours and twenty minutes, the many ballroom dance sequences, long roving camera shots through houses, and even longer conversations about everything from class to love is more numbing than anything I can remember sitting through.
The chemistry between Knightley and MacFadyen doesn?t help matters either. Knightly has a lot of spunk and free will. We buy her as a tomboy primarily because she was so good in "Pirates," even though I hated "King Arthur" and "Domino." MacFadyen, on the other hand, is bland and boring, playing Darcy as a man who looks like he has a stick shoved up some place unfriendly. I?m guessing that?s the point, but it?s dull just the same. They manage very little feeling together. The only two who seem to be having any fun here is Judi Dench, playing Darcy?s snobbish aunt Catherine deBourg, and Brenda Blethyn, as Lizzie?s cartoonishly overbearing mother.
"Pride and Prejudice" has an audience; it?s just not for me. There is no denying the women at my screening who were beaming about getting to see this movie early. I have no idea what they still see in a story that has been done so many times before or how something done in such a slow and meticulous fashion can be considered entertaining. This is not a movie for people with low attention spans, so men ? try to stay away if you can.
The film takes place in England during the late 18th century. Knightly plays Lizzie, the tomboy out of the five middle class Bennett sisters. She and her other sisters have been taught by their mother (Brenda Blethyn) that finding a good husband is imperative, which was the best a woman could hope for at that time. A wealthy good husband is even better. When the noble Mr. Bingley (Simon Woods) arrives in town, Lizzie?s older sister Jane (Rosamund Pike) is immediately smitten with the gentlemen. Only along with him comes Mr. Darcy (Mathew MacFadyen), a seemingly proud and pompous aristocrat.
Lizzie is book smart and thinks Darcy is everything mentioned above. He thinks she is just another pretty face looking for a hand out. A battle of the sexes and classes emerge, even while the two have suppressed feelings for one another. They continue to meet, hate each other, and do it all over again until over the top passions finally win out. There is one scene in which they shout at each other in the rain and another in which he emerges from the fog with a declaration of love. Both scenes will have women in a tizzy and will send men running for the exits.
Earlier this year, director Gurinder Chadha brought us a modern version of Pride and Prejudice, called ?Bride and Prejudice.? It was an Indian-American conflict instead of rich and poor. The movie was upbeat with a great blend of pop and Indian music. Only the best part about it was that it knew that love stories based on class have been done so many times that the idea has now grown cobwebs. Making it a movie about cultures is something new that still manages to convey Austen?s original purpose of not judging a person before meeting them.
"Pride" is just plain tired. Because of their rank, the Bennett sisters must contend with thinking about their own financial stability while at the same time with rumors that they are gold diggers. There is nothing terribly shocking about what happens to them and the story is told very slowly. At two hours and twenty minutes, the many ballroom dance sequences, long roving camera shots through houses, and even longer conversations about everything from class to love is more numbing than anything I can remember sitting through.
The chemistry between Knightley and MacFadyen doesn?t help matters either. Knightly has a lot of spunk and free will. We buy her as a tomboy primarily because she was so good in "Pirates," even though I hated "King Arthur" and "Domino." MacFadyen, on the other hand, is bland and boring, playing Darcy as a man who looks like he has a stick shoved up some place unfriendly. I?m guessing that?s the point, but it?s dull just the same. They manage very little feeling together. The only two who seem to be having any fun here is Judi Dench, playing Darcy?s snobbish aunt Catherine deBourg, and Brenda Blethyn, as Lizzie?s cartoonishly overbearing mother.
"Pride and Prejudice" has an audience; it?s just not for me. There is no denying the women at my screening who were beaming about getting to see this movie early. I have no idea what they still see in a story that has been done so many times before or how something done in such a slow and meticulous fashion can be considered entertaining. This is not a movie for people with low attention spans, so men ? try to stay away if you can.
Craig's Grade: C
Craig's Overall Grading: 340 graded movies
| A | 10.9% | |
| B | 41.8% | |
| C | 31.8% | |
| D | 15.3% | |
| F | 0.3% |
