My rating on a 1-10 scale: 9
Genre: Romance, classic
Primary actors: Charity Wakefield, Hattie Morahan, David Morrissey, Dan Stevens
Length: 3 hours
Based on: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Time period: 1800’s
Year it came out: 2008
My overall opinion: Okay, you’re getting a full run-down, straight from my journal the day after I watched it. J But first…I thought it was good. Really good. In fact, I think it’s close to being as good as the one I’m most familiar with, the 1995 Emma Thompson version. I know that at the beginning, there is an un-needed scene, but it’s less than two minutes (I think – so I’ve heard, but I didn’t watch it). Also, apparently there’s a kiss between Willoughby and Marianne that has more sensuality than needed, but that scene (in Willoughby’s house) can also be easily skipped. So, now that you know I like it…shall we continue?
Most of the characters were better than the 1995 one. Lucy Steele was one exception. The Lucy Steele in the 95 one is THE Lucy Steele – she’s perfect for the part. Mrs. Jennings may be another exception, as she’s an amazing person in the 95 version. However, Edward Ferrars and Colonel Brandon were much improved. And by much, I mean a ton. I thought Margaret Dashwood was also better here. Elinor, Marianne, Mrs. Dashwood, and John Dashwood – all about the same as in the old one. IMHO. Pros and cons of each balance each other. Willoughby – potentially too ugly. None of my sisters thought him at all handsome, and neither did I. The 95 one isn’t exceptionally handsome (looks about to sneeze some of the time :P) but he’s better looking. Sir Middleton and Mrs. Palmer, also about the same. I enjoyed seeing Anne Steele (Lucy’s sister) who’s in the book, but not the 95 movie. Also interesting to see Mrs. Ferrars, and Sir Middleton’s wife. Both of whom are in the book, and aren’t in the other movie. I thought the 95 Fanny Dashwood was better, but this one was a close second. In my journal, I later re-thought the statement that the Elinor’s were the same…I remembered that this one was the perfect personality, the right age (the other one, Emma Thompson, may be a bit old?), and also, this Elinor was clearly very close to Marianne, which isn’t so clear in the other film.
So! You now have a rundown on each (almost – did I miss anyone?) of the characters from Sense and Sensibility.
7 comments:
I'm glad you liked this one. :)
Seeing this on my dashboard made me laugh because I just posted my review on this earlier this morning also - how ironic is that!? LOL!
So glad you liked this one, Charity. It is definitely my most favorite - it far surpasses the feature film in my opinion. =)
I liked this version of Sense and Sensibility, but I think I still like the 1995 movie better. I like both versions for different reasons: the 1995 movie got the tone of the book, while the 2008 version was more accurate plotwise.
I thought Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet "got" Elinor and Marianne better than Hattie Morahan and Charity Wakefield (who weren't bad in the roles).
Definitely agree with you about Lucy! You could almost feel sorry for this Lucy, which isn't the effect you're supposed to have. The 1995 Lucy was spot on!
I liked the newer Edward Ferrars better (he didn't look sickly like 1995 Edward), but I still liked the 1995 Colonel Brandon a little better.
You are so right about Willoughby! He looked too creepy for the role! He's supposed to be charming, but from the start, you knew he was up to something.
I really liked that they included Anne Steele in this version. The actress did a really good job!
I thought that 1995 Fanny was better. There was something about this one that wasn't Fanny, but I can't place what...
I found that this Mrs. Jennings wasn't silly enough. The 1995 Mrs. Jennings is spot on!
Great review! I'm glad you liked this version! :-)
Rissi, how cool! If you leave me a link to your review, I'll check it out. :)
Miss Elizabeth, thank you for your comment. I love that kind. :) Oh, btw, your blog posts are coming to my dashboard! I hadn't realized that the first round of the Heroine Tournament was already over! Definitely voting in the second one. :)
LOVE Sense and Sensibility! I honestly haven't watched the other for a long time, but I like this one better anyways ;)
This might generate some controversy, but I like this better than the older one. Maybe because I saw it first but I thought that the mother, Edward, Margaret, and Mrs. Jenkins were much better. I think it followed more closely to the book too. Thanks for the review! :)
Lol, I meant Mrs. Jennings. I started thinking of another novel apparently. :P
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