prejudiced

The new Pride and Prejudice film isn't out yet, but I got to see it this morning - for free. Expect spoilers:

Before even setting foot in the cinema I had prejudices of my own to overcome.
I'd seen the trailer and the various teaser clips and hadn't been overly impressed, plus I'm not a great fan of Keira Knightley - she's skeletally thin and there's something about her teeth I find incredibly annoying.
"You're determined to hate it, aren't you?" said Husband. He was right.

So, was it any good?
For me, the two benchmarks for a decent film are:
a) emotional engagement (heart racing, tears, laughter etc.)
b) keeping my full attention for the duration.

There was a distinct lack of any 'a)' and as for 'b)', perhaps seeing a film the day before the start of a new school year is bad timing, but my mind kept wandering to the huge list of things I still needed to do before 8.45 tomorrow morning.

Husband enjoyed it. He said it conveyed the essence of the story and characters in the limited time available and thought KK did an excellent job of playing Elizabeth - believing her voice and accent at times indecipherable from that of Jennifer Ehle in P&P2 (I don't agree with him on that score).

As as Husband says, you have to expect a condensed story in a 2 hour film, but there were some fairly hefty deviations which, along with some of the additions and changes to the dialogue, made me want to yell 'nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo' at the top of my lungs.
I resisted, but huffed, tutted and rolled my eyes instead.
Why was Mr. Bennet at the Meryton ball? Why was Caroline Bingley dressed in a sleeveless top at the Netherfield Ball (making her look like she's in her underwear)? Why does Darcy's first proposal scene happpen outdoors - in the rain? Why is Lizzy walking from Pemberley to Lambton? Why does the shy and reserved Georgiana Darcy rush across the room to meet Elizabeth for the first time? Why does Lady Catherine call at Longbourn in the middle of the night? Why was Mr. Bingley a complete bumbling fool? And why was Colonel Fitzwilliam so terribly unattractive and charmless? Shocking!

Editing-wise, there was little that stood out as being 'missing' (bar the Oakham Mount scene, but the film ends after Mr. Bennet gives Lizzy his consent) and little that stood out as 'excess' apart from the odd 10 seconds here and there, notably parts of the Netherfield Ball scene and the strange spinning bit after Lizzy hears the news about the engagement of Charlotte Lucas.

One lone concession is that the final proposal scene, although altered, is quite heartwarming. MacFayden's Darcy shows his vulnerabilities, coming across as shy and awkward than snobby and stand-offish. By the time the film had ended I allowed myself to declare it 'tolerable', rather than 'terrible'.

May improve upon closer acquaintance: 5 out of 10.

Comments

[Teresa]

Oooo. V. Jealous... or perhaps not. From all the clips I've viewed I can tell it's not suited to my exacting taste, but I will see it regardless.

[Kathryn]

I've seen the trailer for this film at least four times now (in the theatre) and each time I'm completely underwhelmed. For one thing, it looks drab, for another they show the entire film (no surprises here, even if you haven't read the book.) And lastly, I agree with you about KK. In the trailer, it looks like they've gone out of their way to make her look bad--even more skelatal, if that's possible. The supporting players look good enough, but I don't know--I think I'll be holding out for DVD. Or better yet, just rewatch the Colin Firth version. OR, better YET...I'll reread the book!!