Review of Pride & Prejudice (2005) by Jessica H — 02 Apr 2013

I use to be in love with this movie, but after seeing the BBC version, I began to see many flaws with this one, as well as it just didn't satisfy me anymore. Matthew, who plays Mr Darcy, is handsome and charming, and I always liked him.

Keira, who plays Elizabeth, well, I never really grew to like. First off, my preference, is that I don't care much for Keira, so I am biased in that aspect. BUT, from a completely unbiased stand, I think her Lizzy was way to goofy, smily, and immature, while Lizzy in the book, and in BBC version, was mature, insightful, was humorous yet still classy, calm, and so forth.

Keira was way to childlike and I didn't see anything in her character other than her reading from her script. It seemed like what she said did not match her personality...she said all the things Lizzy would say, but she just wasn't Lizzy.

Also, I do want to point out the BBC version has the luxury of being a mini-series and has time to build character and storyline, so that was good. This movie just seemed rushed and also the characters weren't all to satisfying.

I wanted more on the family dynamic and their flaws, which supposedly made Darcy see them as threats to Lizzy's happiness and security. This movie did not seem to point that out as much, while the BBC version was satisfying in that aspect and made what Darcy wrote about and though about the family more justified.

As a quick movie highlighting the book's highs and lows for a general audience, it does the trick, but for a Jane Austenite, an avid fan who's always searching for better versions, this one just stopped satisfying me fully.

I still would briefly eye it to get a fix, especially for Matthew, but for a full rendering of the book and all it's plots and arcs and characters, I'd watch another version or the mini-series.