Pride and Prejudice

If you had to make such an awful, awful movie, could you at least change the title. Just because JA is dead, doesn't mean you can do whatever with her best, beloved masterpiece.

The only saving grace is good looking Darcy. Just looks, his acting is way off too. Nothing upper class, nothing haughty. Lizzy is no better, more annoying. And all the other supporting actors, well, are they real actors? I can't comment on their acting, because there is no acting at all.

I had to watch Colin Firth version of P&P twice again just to get rid of the awful taste from this.

I am a big Jane Austen fan and I am a big fan of the A&E miniseries and so my boyfriend took me to see this. It was a big waste of our time. I thought that Elizabeth was RUDE and why anyone liked her I will never know. Why do filmmakers have to ruin a potentially good movie by making the characters LDS? We walked out on this movie halfway through and rented Bridget Jones's Diary which is a better modern day adaptation than this piece of trash.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is not just a clever romance. It contains strong criticism against a society that punished women for their intelligence, created an upper class for whom working for a living was disgraceful, and operated through social interactions that could make true, intimate friendship difficult. The novel depicts intense pressure on young women to marry, and marry early-- and shows how such marriages can end in tragedy. This movie, however, is almost completely free of serious criticism of Mormon society. Instead, it is full of silly characters doing silly things, wearing foolish outfits and lobbing objects at each other in case you didn't understand that it was supposed to be a comedy. Apparently the pressure to marry that young Mormons feel is really kind of a hoot.

Recently the basis for a well-regarded BBC miniseries, Jane Austen's 1813 comedy-of-manners is transposed to a contempo American college town in director Andrew Black's splendidly, surprisingly charming "Pride & Prejudice." Taking inspiration from Amy Heckerling's "Clueless" (loosely based on Austen's "Emma"), pic transforms its source material into a bubbly, pastel-colored frolic, while adhering closely to Austen's essential themes. Bolstered by a strong cast of relative newcomers, pic is much smarter than the fare usually pitched at its targeted teen ticket-buyers. However, the lack of name thesps (save for Carmen Rasmusen in a cameo) means careful grassroots marketing will be required for pic, which opens in limited release on Dec. 5. Modern-dress makeovers of "P & P" are all the rage nowadays, with writer Helen Fielding citing the book as the inspiration for her "Bridget Jones's Diary" and "Bend It Like Beckham" director Gurinder Chadha currently at work on the Bollywood-style "Bride and Prejudice," due next year.

This considerably lower-profile entry, cleverly scripted by Anne Black, Jason Faller and Katherine Swigert, actually represents the latest in a wave of independently-financed films made in and around the Utah area by predominately Mormon (or Latter-day Saints) filmmakers. (It's even subtitled "a latter-day comedy" in the advertising.) However, whereas such niche LDS successes as "The Other Side of Heaven" and the films of Richard Dutcher have distinctly religious themes, "Pride & Prejudice" is a movie in which the characters just happen to be Mormon.

Most non-LDS audiences may not even detect the movie's LDS content, and yet the substitution of a present-day Mormon setting for Austen's Regency England is an inspired one, given the correlation between the two cultures' emphasis on traditional values and, most importantly, marriage.

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife," Austen famously wrote at the beginning of her novel, before detailing the efforts of her plucky heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, to find the right such man. Likewise, the movie's Elizabeth (Kam Heskin), a student and bookstore clerk with dreams of becoming a famous novelist, oft has marriage on her mind, though she is loathe to admit it.

The four other Bennet sisters from the book, have here been turned into Elizabeth's housemates: sultry Argentinian Jane (Lucila Sola); perpetually squabbling Lydia (Kelly Stables) and Kitty (Nicole Hamilton); and the fatally shy, awkward Mary (Rainy Kerwin). At a party thrown by the charmingly naive Charles (Ben Gourley), Elizabeth is rather disastrously introduced to Will Darcy (Orlando Seale), an expat Brit stopping through Utah on undisclosed business. It's Will's smug "pride" that, in turn, "prejudices" Elizabeth against him, although viewers may realize from the start these two are meant to be. But first Elizabeth settles for the company of with her erstwhile admirer (and inveterate gambler) Jack Wickham (Henry Maguire), as Will is pursued by Charles' strapping sister, Caroline (Kara Holden).

That's a lot of relationships for any movie (especially one running under two hours) to keep track of, but "Pride & Prejudice" does so nimbly. The screenwriters understand the story's appeal lies in its chaotic structure, in the way that its many suitors and their potential mates are constantly pairing off and trading places as if part of an elaborate square dance.

Black, the Scottish-born director whose short film, "The Snell Show," won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2003 Slamdance Film Festival, has a fine sense of pacing and timing; he keeps the movie spinning, so that no one part overstays its welcome.

The winning cast breathes new life into Austen's characters. Spunky Heskin is responsive to the comic stimuli around her like Reese Witherspoon was in the first "Legally Blonde" pic (or, natch, Alicia Silverstone in "Clueless"). And like those actresses, she's well-supported by an array of charismatic scene-stealers, including the irrepressibly emotive Sola, the hilariously repressed Kerwin and the acrobatically goofy Gourley, whose inspired physical-comedy antics dominate the movie's Vegas-set climax.

Tech achievements are well-realized on a modest budget, with Travis Cline's sunny lighting adding luster to the giddy pinks, purples and greens of Anne Black's production design. by Scott Foundas

I saw Pride & Prejudice at a screening a week ago and absolutely loved it. The movie boasts great production values for such a small project.

The story has been modified and updated from the original source material, but not to the detriment of the spirit of Jane Austen. There were a lot of in-jokes to Austen fans--keep an eye out for the address on the mailbox! The script mixes witty dialogue with physical comedy--something for both senses of humor.

Someone finally made a local movie with decent actors. Kam Heskin is a great Elizabeth. Jane (Sola) is adorable and her counterpart Charles (Gourley) is just delicious--I could eat him up. Darcy (Seale) is appropriately heart-breaking and dashing. Lydia and Kitty were hysterical.

I loved the parallels between 19th Century England and modern Mormons in America. This is a movie in which the characters happens to be LDS, its not a movie about being LDS. That aspect was very refreshing. Are all the characters perfect depictions of model LDS youth? No! And neither are most of the people in my ward. However, I recognized all the characters.

If you go into this movie expecting Singles Ward you might be disappointed. Or you might be thrilled. Pride & Prejudice is infinatly smarter than its Mollywood predecessors. I've heard both sides from people. Those who loved Singles Ward may think that nothing will hold a candle to it. Then there are the people like me, who liked Singles Ward, but are ready for a movie that is more intelligent and has better production values.

In all I can't wait to see Pride & Prejudice again.