I wasn’t really a fan of this movie, but it’s worth reviewing simply because, well, I saw it…But I’ll make it brief since everyone really just wants to talk about The Hobbit (which I will, a little later on today)…
What Works: This updating of the classic story will probably please fans of the material, and may also please Kiera Knightley’s fan base of young girls who looooooove Pride and Prejudice. It seems Ms. Knightley is pleased to have a career where she spends much of it in corsets, and she’s as well-suited as any to this material. [Especially since this adaptation isn’t really steamy, more about the idea of sex than really showing it, and who better than someone with Knightley’s sensual face but curious lack of any curves whatsoever?] In the end, how much you like the movie may really depend on how much you like the story itself. And Matthew McFayden, as Anna’s two-timing brother, briefly injects life into this thing whenever he’s on screen.
What Doesn’t Work: Not to sound unsophisticated, but the story itself has never been the best example of what a classic novel should be. Yes, it contains classic themes about infidelity, passion vs. stability, and how inconvenient romantic love can be, but it’s also pretty specific to the time-period, and it comes off more than a little stuffy today. The movie itself doesn’t really…breathe and the whole thing never really comes to life. Part of that is because most of the characters are such downers (Jude Law’s face in this movie could make Mary Poppins depressed) but it’s also because the director (Joe Wright, whose least creative films seem to involve Knightley, Atoned and Pride and Prejudice, while The Soloist and Hanna were infinitely more alive) has made the self-consciously artsy decision to film the movie like a play. For example, stagehands come on and off screen to carry away tables and chairs, and that probably sounds better than it winds up being.
What I Would Have Done Differently: Whew….uhhhh…well….ummmm, how do you improve upon a “timeless” classic that’s really not timeless? Whoosh…boy, look at the time…