If one feels one must stage a dramatization of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, one ought to find an actor to play Mr. Darcy with intelligence behind his eyes. One ought to find an actor to play Mr. Wickham who displays some semblance of charm. One ought to find an actress who can shelve her vanity and portray the unflattering and headstrong Elizabeth Bennet in an unflatteringly headstrong manner. One ought to find an actor to play Mr. Bennet who can simultaneously manage to impersonate an Englishman and enunciate.
One ought, but one hasn’t. Country manners these days! Oh, do be a dear and see the BBC version instead.
I couldn’t agree more. This Keira Knightley version is all sensibility, and no sense. They’re trying so hard to make the movie short that the lines are run all together like mush, and giggly girls drown out half the dialogue.
And that ending… what, was that written by Hallmark to help sell one of their greeting cards?
BBC wins, all the way.