Review of Sense and Sensibility (1995) by Flipje — 25 May 2021

Emma Thompson (screenwriter) and Ang Lee (director) have made a little charming Jane Austen adaptation. For Jane Austen fans, this is good ol' landed gentry, period drama, Pride and Prejudicish goodness.

It satisfies like high-priced, imported chocolate. The screenplay moves at a brisk-enough pace for a film focussed on love and misunderstandings, not to mention heartbreaks and other cad, bad boy moments care of upper crusty too-good-to-be-true rogues.

Emma Thompson (Elinor Dashwood) does her best Emma Thompson here and if you loved Howard's End or Remains of the Day, she is always tip-top and very received pronunciation in her dignified delivery. This version of Hugh Grant (Edward) is perfectly fine though it is Hugh Grant.

.. pausing... between words... and selecting the next ones... with poise, perplexed brow... thoughtful... demeanor and yet, why not? It works. Alan Rickman (Col. Brandon) here is solid, saintly and just right the amount of stiff upper lift and you dearly wish, watching him, he made more films like this.

His accent gives him a kind of nobility. As for Kate Winslet, well...wince, well... I have to say, she doesn't compare with Thompson's previous co-star from Howard's End. Helena Bonham- Carter, in my opinion, can act circles around Winslet and I'm sure, she would have been ideal for the role of Marianne if Miss HBC had not had an affair with a certain someone's hubby.

.. hmmmm... so Winslet does the job but only barely, basically turning on the woe-is-me waterworks whenever necessary. I never felt for her giddy and emotionally mood-swinging character. Yet overall...

story, writing, pace... great stuff. Villages of stone houses. Proper discussions. Green rolling landscape. Also, great fun with Hugh Laurie as Hugh Laura but being put-off and surly in period attire.

Have to mention Gemma Jones as the matriarch: quite the screen presence to balance Winslet's lightweight weepiness. Easily recommended.