Pride & Prejudice

Romantic comedies in which two people, obviously attracted to one another, are artificially kept apart for a couple of hours until they wind up in each other's arms are legion—and mostly terrible. But Joe Wright's version of the Jane Austen classic that's the granddaddy of them all proves that if you treat the source with respect (if not absolute fidelity), the result can be wonderful. A lively, colorful, intelligent retelling, with a sensibility more modern than Austen's but no less pleasurable, this Pride & Prejudice obviously doesn't include as much detail as the superb five-hour 1995 BBC  miniseries, but it very successfully conveys the flavor of the novel, though with a more overtly romantic tone. Wright and his technical crew, moreover, prove adept at infusing the action not only with charm and vivacity, but also with an airy combination of lightness and serenity full of luxurious images. Still, the meat of the story is in the characters, and here too the film is outstanding, with Oscar-nominated Keira Knightley an engaging Elizabeth, Matthew Macfadyen a suitably standoffish Darcy, and Donald Sutherland and Brenda Blethyn delightful as the elder Bennets. Pride & Prejudice may be a familiar story about finding Mr. Right, but handled this deftly it seems as fresh and enchanting as Austen's book must have been in 1813. Highly recommended. [Note: Available in either widescreen or full screen versions, DVD extras include audio commentary by director Joe Wright, a 13-minute “HBO First Look” behind-the-scenes featurette, the eight-minute featurette “Jane Austen, Ahead of Her Time,” a “Behind-the-Scenes at the Ball” featurette (7 min.), “A Bennet Family Portrait” (6 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a fine adaptation of Austen's classic.] (F. Swietek)[Blu-ray Review—Feb. 2, 2010—Universal, 129 min., PG, $26.98—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2005's Pride & Prejudice features a great transfer and a 5.1 DTS-HD soundtrack. Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Joe Wright, “The Stately Homes of Pride & Prejudice” interactive map (16 min.), an “HBO First Look” behind-the-scenes featurette (13 min.), a “Jane Austen, Ahead of Her Time” featurette on the author (8 min.), a “Behind-the-Scenes at the Ball” featurette (7 min.), “A Bennet Family Portrait” character segment (6 min.), “Conversations with the Cast” (6 min.), a segment on “The Politics of 18th Century Dating” (5 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a winning Blu-ray debut for a fine adaptation of Austen's perennial classic.]