7/10
Austen fans, of which there are millions and billions, will like this new, innovative addition
13 May 2010
Amanda Price (Jemima Rooper) is a typical British twenty-something. She has a steady but unimaginative boyfriend and an it-pays-my-bills kind of job. But, what she really longs for is a great love and a worthwhile life, like the one of her most admired heroine, Elizabeth Bennett of the fictional Pride and Prejudice. She deeply loves Jane Austen, Mr. Darcy and the Georgian manners of 200 years hence. So, one day, after she receives the most unsophisticated of marriage proposals from her fellow, she retreats to her room to think. There, unbelievably, is Miss Lizzie Bennett herself, who leads Amanda through a wardrobe and into the gardens of Longbourne, home to the Bennetts. Once there, Lizzie closes the door and there is no going back. Now, Amanda is living with the other four Bennett daughters and Lizzie is in 21st century London. As it appears, Mr. Bingley has just moved into Netherfield Hall with his sister, Caroline and Mr. Darcy, mimicking the start of the novel. Therefore, Amanda is confident that she will be privy to her favorite book's events. Not so! Her arrival as an outsider seems to work havoc, for Mr. Bingley seems more interested in Amanda than in Jane Bennett, his future fiancée, and it is Mr. Collins, instead, who succeeds in attracting the lovely Jane, leaving Charlotte Lucas in tears. Mr. Darcy is sour and prickly, more so than even the book allows, and he seems totally uninterested in love. How can Amanda set things right and make it back to her own century, too? This is a nice take on Jane Austen's beloved book, P and P, and its much-loved characters. The lesson learned is that we may envy the happily ever after of books but its not reality and it may not satisfy real people. Or does it? That said, it is such fun to see, as Amanda does, Austen's memorable cast fall for the wrong people and set off a delightful, unexpected mayhem. Eliciting sighs, too, is the gorgeous scenery, costuming, and photography while the script-direction are clever and lively. Therefore, if you are an Austen fan, which may well include nearly everyone, you will be glad to embrace this new companion piece.
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