Thursday, March 02, 2006
MOVIE REVIEW: Pride and Prejudice
Overview: The story is based on Jane Austen's novel about five sisters - Jane, Elizabeth (Keira Knightley), Mary, Kitty and Lydia Bennet - in Georgian England. Their lives are turned upside down when a wealthy young man (Mr. Bingley) and his best friend (Mr. Darcy) arrive in their neighborhood.
Put simply: a chick flick in every sense of the term. For those who like the genre, or for those who are willing to forgive what they generally dislike about it, this is a wonderful film. Beautifully shot, clever, funny, entertaining, very well acted (even if the Oscar nomination for Keira Knightley seems a bit overdone), and… well… with the usually sprinkles of fantasy that make the genre loved by some and disliked by others.
I saw it in a theater full of females. They found humor and were gasping at passages that just made me roll my eyes. But that’s OK, the movie knows it’s target audience, and for them, it delivers the goods. At the end of the movie, a man accompanying a woman just looked at me and shook his head. I reciprocated as his female mate was chatting away with other woman about how wonderful the movie was. He and I didn’t need words – the Exit sign was our reward.
Priceless Scene: When Elizabeth’s mother wants her to marry someone and she refuses, the subsequent brief conversation between Elizabeth and her father (the always excellent Donald Sutherland), by the brook, with her mother in the background, shows the quiet confidence of a man often overshadowed by a demanding wife and 5 daughters. Mr. Sutherland makes it look so easy.
Put simply: a chick flick in every sense of the term. For those who like the genre, or for those who are willing to forgive what they generally dislike about it, this is a wonderful film. Beautifully shot, clever, funny, entertaining, very well acted (even if the Oscar nomination for Keira Knightley seems a bit overdone), and… well… with the usually sprinkles of fantasy that make the genre loved by some and disliked by others.
I saw it in a theater full of females. They found humor and were gasping at passages that just made me roll my eyes. But that’s OK, the movie knows it’s target audience, and for them, it delivers the goods. At the end of the movie, a man accompanying a woman just looked at me and shook his head. I reciprocated as his female mate was chatting away with other woman about how wonderful the movie was. He and I didn’t need words – the Exit sign was our reward.
Priceless Scene: When Elizabeth’s mother wants her to marry someone and she refuses, the subsequent brief conversation between Elizabeth and her father (the always excellent Donald Sutherland), by the brook, with her mother in the background, shows the quiet confidence of a man often overshadowed by a demanding wife and 5 daughters. Mr. Sutherland makes it look so easy.
