Sense and Sensibility

Rating:
Summary: Truly the greatest love story ever
Review: I really can't tell you how much i love this movie. i'm not going to prattle away about the cinematography, directing or even skript and acting, because when you watch this film you really just don't care; because you're too involved with whats going on to notice those things. It is simply stunning and leaves you wanting your own Mr. Ferris or Colonel Brandon

Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Story!
Review: One of my all time favorite movies. Even if you are unfamiliar with Jane Austen's work, as I was, you will still love this movie. Emma Thompson did a brilliant job on the screenplay. The direction is wonderful and the cast is absolutely stellar. Kate Winslet's performance as Marianne is truly heartbreaking. I can't say enough about it.

Rating:
Summary: Not a bad adapation
Review: Sense & Sensibility is my favorite Jane Austen novel and this film version was very well done, but it is also very abridged. Obviously the story had to be edited to fit into a two hour movie, but several important plot points seem to be omitted. If someone hasn't read the book certain parts of the story seem vague, such as the relationship between Edward and Lucy. The performances by the cast, especially Winslet and Rickman were top notch. In my opinion this has been Kate Winslet's best performance yet and she should have won the oscar. I usually like Emma Thompson, but to put it blunt, she was about twenty years too old to play Elinor. All in all this was a enjoyable film, the production quality and the performance by Kate Winslet is reason enough to watch this movie.

Rating:
Summary: To love is to burn, to be on fire!
Review: I haven't read any Jane Austen, for which I fervently apologize, but the early nineteenth century is well captured in the scenes in both countryside and London, as well as the costumes.

The Dashwood family, the mother and three daughters Elinor, Marianne and Margaret, has fallen on hard times due to their residence at Norland being given to eldest son John and his wife Fanny following the death of Mr Dashwood. Consequently, they are reduced to being visitors.

Edward Farris (Hugh Grant) is very soft-spoken and kind of wooden, yet he is more sensitive to the Dashwood's plight than his sister Fanny. He is talented at being tactful and clever, given the way he draws out the youngest sister Margaret, ever hiding in her treehouse and under furniture. He is described as being loyal to a commitment, refusing to go back on one's words. Honourable traits indeed for a gentleman. He wants to be in a parish in the quiet countryside, hating London and its lack of peace, but his families has high expectations for him.

The eldest sister Elinor (Emma Thompson) is quite taken by Edward but she has suppressed any feelings by seeing things sensibly, perhaps to the point of being denied happiness. After all, any future between them is hampered by their social standing. The Dashwoods have fallen down in status, and Edward would stand to be disinherited if he married beneath his station.

Marianne (Kate Winslet) though does not find Edward too passionate. There's something wanting in him, "too sedate", as she tells Elinor. "To love is to burn, to be on fire, like Juliet, or Guinevere, or Heloise." A tried and true romantic, and thus the one I connect to the most. She would definitely take issue with Fanny saying "Love is all very well, but unfortunately, we can't all rely on the heart to lead us in the most suitable direction." She falls for Willoughby, a gentleman of ostensiblu good standing, and despite the short time between them, believes that "time alone does not determine intimacy." She also wishes Elinor would be less restrained. "Always resignation and acceptance. Always prudence and honor and duty. Where is your heart?"

The youngest Margaret, is twelve, and is in a world of her own, reading atlases, living in a tree house, and imagining many scenarios, including herself being a captain of an expedition. I was like that when I was young, and I was simply enchanted.

Their move to Barton Cottage, on the estate of Mother Dashwood's cousin Sir John (Robert Hardy of All Creatures Great And Small) and his mother-in-law Ms. Jennings (Elizabeth Spriggs) proves to be a curse and a blessing, the former because of the impossibility of keeping secrets, especially with a cheery Ms. Jennings.

The social class strictures, such as marrying within one's own class, money and breeding being the important factors, the concept of primogeniture may seem dated today, but the hopes of escaping those strictures, or any strictures imposed in any time makes this movie and the novel relevant today.

All the performers are wonderful here. However, it's interesting to see Hugh Laurie (Jeeves and Wooster, Blackadder), usually so full of goofy wackiness playing it so tempered and buttoned down as Palmer, and he does it well. It's a joy to see Kate Winslet as the romantic Marianne, before she plunged into fame in Titanic. Alan Rickman does wonders as the ever-brooding but understanding Colonel Brandon, whose face belies a pained past. He even tells Elinor that maybe it's better for Marianne not to learn the ways of the world, that it's better for her not to hide her emotions, and is well aware of the "impolitic cruelty in dividing two young people long attached to one another."

Despite Marianne's travails, I say it's better to use one's heart and not one's head for one's destiny. After all, "can the soul really be satisfied with such polite affections?" I feel not so.

Rating:
Summary: Even better than the book!
Review: This is one of the few movies that I've found are better than the original book. Thompson's adaptation of Jane Austen's novel is witty and vivid, and, for the most part, stays true to the book. The actors are wonderful for their parts- seeing Hugh Grant, for one, as a slightly bemused but benign suitor is a riot. This a must-have of a movie!

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely wonderful!
Review: Without a doubt, the best movie adaptation of a Jane Austen novel I have ever seen! I was enraptured by the perfect choice of characters, the breathtaking acting and dramatic scenes, the music (I couldn't rest until I had bought the songs Marianne plays on the piano so that I could play them for myself!) and even the poetry!
All hopeless romantics will fall in love with this film; I watched it twelve times the first week I saw it. Having read the book, I would say that this movie represents one of the few instances where a screenplay outdoes its book.
All the characters have been wonderfully cast, especially Alan Rickman as Colonel Brandon, Kate Winslet as Marianne, and Elizabeth Spriggs as Mrs. Jennings. (My personal favorite!)
Be prepared to love this movie!!

Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Comfort Film - And A Glorious English Romance!
Review: Some people have comfort food to help them through dull, drizzly evenings. I have comfort films, and Ang Lee's, (and Emma Thompson's), "Sense And Sensibility" is one of my favorites. I have watched this movie several times since I first saw it, and it never fails to lift my spirits.

This glorious romance of mores and manners, set during England's Regency Period, is very faithful to Jane Austen's brilliant novel. The film vividly brings the novel, with all its characters, to life. The plot focuses on two of the three Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne, and their extremely different temperaments. Emma Thompson wrote this wonderful screenplay and earned an Academy Award for her efforts. She added pizzazz to the film, with an extra dash of drama, some humor, splendid panoramic views and a fabulous ball scene.

A lovely, young Kate Winslet plays Marianne Dashwood to perfection. Marianne is a passionate young woman, with a definite inclination toward the humanities: art, music and literature. Her heart rules her head, more often than not, and she has a very spontaneous nature. Emma Thompson gives a strong performance as Elinor Dashwood, the older of the two sisters. She has a more practical, sensible temperament. While Elinor appreciates the music and literature that her sibling so passionately loves, she definitely thinks things through before making decisions, or taking action, and keeps her personal feelings to herself. She feels tremendous responsibility for her family's well-being. Ms. Thompson gives Elinor a wicked, dry sense of humor, and her character adds much wit to the dialogue. Marianne believes that Elinor, whom she dearly loves, is too cold, and restrained - more concerned with propriety than with feelings. Elinor, on the other hand, is concerned about Marianne's open and guileless behavior. She fears her sister will be hurt by indulging in her strong emotions, and that conventional society will condemn her for this attribute.

The movie opens dramatically, with Mr. Dashwood, the girls' father, on his deathbed, begging his son and heir, (by his first marriage), to please take care of his wife and three daughters after he dies. The spineless John Dashwood sincerely promises his father to do so, and then is persuaded not to by his greedy wife, Fanny, in a wonderful satire-filled scene. Before Elinor, Marianne, their adorable younger sister Margaret, and their mother are forced to leave their home, the Norwood estate, they meet Fanny's brother, the shy and kind Edward Ferrars, (Hugh Grant). Over a period of a few weeks, while the women are packing their belongings, Elinor and Edward grow obviously fond of each other. Their attachment is interrupted by Fanny, who senses the bond forming between her sister-in-law and her brother, and urges the four Dashwood women to leave immediately for their new home.

Upon arriving at their new residence, Barton Cottage, near the estate of Mrs. Dashwood's cousin John, the women meet their relatives and some new neighbors. Colonel Brandon, played by the charismatic Alan Rickman, is included in the welcome party. Brandon is drawn at once to the beautiful, musical Marianne, who does not reciprocate his affection. Instead she falls madly in love with the dashing Willoughby, and Greg Wise is extremely dashing in his persuasive performance as the reckless, feckless young suitor.

The family settles in and explores their surroundings. Elinor waits in vain for Edward to visit her at Barton Cottage. Willoughby's expected marriage proposal to Marianne is unexpectedly interrupted. Two unhappy sisters travel to London for the season, hoping to settle their romantic affairs, and instead, find their dreams thwarted.

I won't give the story away, but it is a tale told wonderfully well, dramatized to perfection by extraordinary actors, and directed by the incomparable Ang Lee. Too many superlatives? You won't think so after you have seen "Sense And Sensibility."

Rating:
Summary: Almost as good as the book
Review: Jane Austen fans won't be disappointed by the movie version of one of her best books. Really quite delightful.

Rating:
Summary: I love this movie
Review: When Colonel Brandon (Alan Rickman) walked into the room I think my heart stopped. This movie was an excellent adaptation of the original story. Of course being an Alan Rickman fan made it all the better for me. Excellent movie, great actors, this is one you want in your visual library folks. Trust me just buy it!!!!

Rating:
Summary: True Love
Review: I didn't know anything about Jane Austen when I first watched this film. Maybe I still don't know that much. But after watching Sense & Sensibility I thought this was the best film about true love I had ever seen. (A special congratulation must go to Patrick Doyle's exquisite musical score - simply beautiful.)