I always find it weird that I don't despise Jane Austen stories. The idea of women who live their lives almost exclusively to impress and/or "win" a husband is infuriating to me, and that seems to be such a huge driving force in these stories. In fact, I can't think of a single main character in the entire film that has a job, they seem to exist solely to spend money and go to parties. Pride & Prejudice is about a group of 5 daughters scrambling to find a rich husband to support the rest of the family, so they can continue to spend money and go to parties. Yet there's something about the way the characters are written and the story is told that engages me despite my frustration with the subject matter. They condensed a lot of the novel down for this film, and yet I still was connected with the story and felt like they did a good job of fleshing out the characters.
Some credit for the quality of the characters in the film has to go to the amazing cast. I could call out most of the names in the ensemble because they all are giving a lot to set themselves apart as individuals. Even some of the daughters that barely speak in the film have something that makes them feel like a vital piece of the story. That being said, I've seen this story before. While I like this cast, I was more entranced by the presentation in the 2005 film. Perhaps it was the fact that it was fresh and original then, and now it feels like I've delved as deep as I need to in Pride & Prejudice. There's even a chance that seeing this one first would have resulted in me having a reverse reaction. All I know is that once was probably enough for me with this plot. I can't point to any one piece of this Pride & Prejudice that made me dislike it, but I just know it is the one I will be less likely to revisit.
Some credit for the quality of the characters in the film has to go to the amazing cast. I could call out most of the names in the ensemble because they all are giving a lot to set themselves apart as individuals. Even some of the daughters that barely speak in the film have something that makes them feel like a vital piece of the story. That being said, I've seen this story before. While I like this cast, I was more entranced by the presentation in the 2005 film. Perhaps it was the fact that it was fresh and original then, and now it feels like I've delved as deep as I need to in Pride & Prejudice. There's even a chance that seeing this one first would have resulted in me having a reverse reaction. All I know is that once was probably enough for me with this plot. I can't point to any one piece of this Pride & Prejudice that made me dislike it, but I just know it is the one I will be less likely to revisit.