Got to give it two thumbs up! Everybody was wonderful in this movie! The acting was supurb! The costume design totaly fitted the era. And i have tried to read the book but it's pretty hard! I love the way it's written but i can't get started! This move is sure the best movie of 1995. Emma tompson is very lovely in this movie.
Great Cast/Screenplay Makes Beloved Jane Austen Novel Work! I first saw this movie without reading the book (shame on me), so the movie didn't make much "Sense" to me, although I somewhat understood the plot [and liked the film] but it's always preferable to read the book prior to seeing the movie version (I also did that with Patricia Rozema's excellent adaptation of "Mansfield Park" [how utterly stupid of me], but I'll read the novel, as I have it now, part of "Jane Austen: The Complete Novels"). I saw this movie again on March 12 and...ah, what the hell, read on.
Emma Thompson ("Dead Again," "Much Ado About Nothing") is the screenwriter and star of this excellent adaptation of one of Jane Austen's most beloved works (the others being "Mansfield Park," "Emma" and "Pride And Prejudice"). Recently divorced from Kenneth Branagh, who cast her in his adaptations of William Shakespeare's "Henry V" and "Much Ado About Nothing" (which he directed, produced, wrote for the screen and starred in; see my review on "Much Ado About Nothing" and other Shakespearean adaptations) and "Dead Again" (he only directed and starred in that one), Ms. Thompson agreed to tackle this project as "Jane Austen is my favorite author" when approached by producer Lindsay Doran on the set of "Dead Again" and does an excellent job with the material, such a good job that she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Screenplay (competing against Randall Wallace for Mel Gibson's "Braveheart" [which won Gibson Best Picture and Best Director]) AND WON!! Well deserved, too. Kate Winslet (pre-"Titanic" fame and whose next role would be as Ophelia opposite Kenneth Brangah in the latter's uncut, star-studded 4-hour version of "Hamlet" [see my review on that one and the 1948 version of "Hamlet" starring, produced, text-edited, though he went uncredited, and directed by Sir Laurence Olivier aka The Master Of The Bard and arguably one of the greatest Shakespearean actors who ever lived] as well as prior and watch for upcoming reviews on faithful other versions of William Shakespeare's plays), Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman (fresh off his role as the villainous Sherrif Of Nottingham in Kevin Reynolds' remake [to a certain extent] of the 1938 classic "The Adventures Of Robin Hood" [see my review on it] starring screen legends Errol Flynn and Olivia DeHaviland [whose next project was the equally successful 1939 classic "Gone With The Wind", see my review of the VHS], based on the classic novel of the same name by Margaret Mitchell) play the two potential suitors in this wonderful version, Edward Ferrars and Colonel Brandon, respectively. Greg Wise plays the villainous Willoughby. Imelda Staunton (who two years prior had been cast as Margaret in Kenneth Branagh's "Much Ado About Nothing" and recently won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in the drama "Vera Drake") plays Charlotte Palmer. The rest of the cast does a great job in this well-scripted/well-casted film. Ang Lee ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon") does a fine job directing this period piece. Ms. Thompson should have also brought "Pride And Prejudice" to the screen as well (there's an upcoming version starring Keira Knightley ["Pirates Of The Carribean" see my review on it; sequel coming soon] set to hit theaters this year at the earliest), but it's all well and good. Special features include deleted scenes, Emma Thompson's Golden Globe speech, theatrical trailers and more.
Great cast, terrific screenplay, top-notch acting, beautiful scenery (it was shot in the same locales described so meticulously by Jane Austen in her novel) and good directing make this period piece a movie to treasure for all time. The anamorphic widescreen format enchances the beauty of this great picture even further. Were it not for the "B" word, which is also in the book, this movie would've/should've been rated G. Rated PG for thematic elements.Wonderful movie! My only complaint is.... ...that Hugh Grant is the most typecasted actor in the world. He plays the doddering Englishman to perfection, but I am starting to think that's about all he can do. Same character as Notting Hill, Four Weddings and a Funeral,... you get the jist? Alan Rickman is so fantastic as Colonel Brandon. In the beginning, you can't help but think, "What is that old thing mooning about that young thing for?" But then he just grows on you, and when she cries out for Wiloughby, Wiloughby, you think, "No! Brandon, Brandon!!" He makes the show, as does Emma Thompson's fantastic, if not a bit old, Elinor!
