Jane Austen’s ever-popular novel has been adapted for the screen many times, but apart from the fact that it adds a pointless period to the title, Autumn de Wilde’s new version is as good as any. Elegantly appointed by production designer Kave Quinn and costumer Alexandra Byrne and shot in creamy pastels by cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt, it looks wonderful. So does Anna Taylor-Joy, who makes the meddlesome but pretty matchmaker charming rather than irritating. Emma Woodhouse has good intentions but a tendency to ignore others’ feelings in the drive to get her own way, especially in matrimonial matters. Of course, it is inevitable that she will wind up with the man who criticizes her interference in the lives of others, handsome neighbor George Knightley (Johnny Flynn), the only real companion to her quirkily reclusive father (Bill Nighy). The joke is that Emma, so ready to choose mates for everyone else, fails to recognize her own Mr. Right. The always reliable Nighy has a fine time expressing Mr. Woodhouse’s eccentricity, particularly his obsession with drafts and elaborate use of panels to ward them off, and Flynn makes Knightley more virile than usual. The other standout in the large cast is Miranda Hart as the voluble spinster Miss Bates, whose nonchalant dismissal by Emma—and the reaction to it—compel our flummoxed heroine to reconsider how she treats people. The remainder of the cast is for the most part well chosen. Mia Goth is suitably recessive as orphan Harriet Smith, whom Emma adopts, training her in the ways of society and grooming her for a proper marriage—vetoing the girl’s relationship with a simple, honest farmer (Connor Swindells) in favor of the local vicar, Mr. Elton (Josh O’Connor). If the cast has a weak it is O’Connor, who overdoes the farcical cluelessness of the clergyman who has eyes for Emma rather than Harriet and, when rejected, takes a pompous wife (Tanya Reynolds) instead. Amber Anderson is quietly elegant as Jane Fairfax, Miss Bates’ niece whom Emma looks upon as a rival, while Callum Turner cuts a handsomely shallow figure as Frank Churchill, the bachelor thought a possible match for both her and Emma; and Rupert Graves makes a jovial Mr. Weston, whose marriage to Emma’s former governess (Gemma Whelan) sends the whole roundelay spinning. Austen’s witty novel has been a favorite since it was published in 1815, and this version’s fidelity to the source and Masterpiece Theatre-style should please both long-time admirers of the book and those who have never read it. Recommended. (F. Swietek)