Emma

Rating:
Summary: A Fun Film
Review: Emma, a young lady lacking neither fortune or conciquence, is blessed with all the good things in life. Her father, loving but odd man, has given her the best education, the best clothes, and a good name, she is free to move in good society with few limitations.

In her free time, she was lucky enough to match up her governess with a family friend and is now determined to marry off all the other single young people in her neighborhood. Emma fails most brillently; she doesn't see how people attract and repell others around them--for reasons that they may or may not have any control over.

Emma is also blind to her own faults and is not as wise or worldly as she thinks her self to be. This causes hurt feelings in more than one party, but everything is as it should be when the credits roll.

This version of Emma is filled with beautiful people surrounded by beautiful things and carrying out their lives in a beautiful manner. It is a light, easy film that doesn't take alot of thought to enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: It's better than I remember it
Review: I saw this on video YEARS ago, and suffered through it. For some reason, this time around, I enjoyed it a lot more. Maybe it's because it was with my wonderful girlfriend, but who knows? :)

it's actually very humorous, and a light-hearted look at relationships and how people read each other in the "dance" that is men and women trying to catch each others' eyes.

Rating:
Summary: Too, too beautiful
Review: Despite what it may seem, "beautiful" does not refer only to Gwyneth Paltrow and the rest of the actors populating the cast of this Hollywoodian production of Jane Austen's 19th Century book, though beautiful many of them certainly are.

The strongest asset of this production is, as I intimated by the title, its astonishing visuals. I watched this movie in theatres 8 years or so ago, and upon re-watching it lately I was amazed to find that I completely forgot how utterly beautiful the setting of this movie is. Perhaps all this glowing representation of a sunny, Grecian 19th Century England radiates artificiality, but I suspect that it was meant to be this way, and as such I greatly enjoyed it.

The cast is adequate. Paltrow is a fair actress, but I think she is miscast as Emma, the snobbish heiress whose greatest interest is arranging the life of people around her to her own satisfaction. Austen's Emma is a strong if sometimes unlikeable young woman, but Paltrow passes her off with crinkly-nosed cuteness. This gets just a little bit irritating after a while, especially since the script writers resort to downright misrepresentation of other characters in order to make Emma's actions and behavior blameless, as in the case of Frank Churchill. (For a perfect Emma, see BBC's Kate Beckingsdale).

Mr. Knightly here is handsome and fine, but a little too mellow, and spends most of the movie smiling benignly at Emma's actions ("oh, how adorable Gwyneth- sorry, Emma- is!") He does have some fine moments, however, particularly during the "Harriet rescue" dance, and the relationship between Emma and him is sufficiently well-developed (the BBC version faltered on this score, which a longer production would have corrected).

Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax, however, suffer from the concentration on Emma. Frank's role is not only reduced, but misrepresented- he is represented as the author of the story about Jane Fairfax and Mr. Dixon, rather than Emma. Jane Fairfax is sufficiently beautiful, but seems too robust to be ailing, and her role is reduced to such minimal proportions that she barely gets any lines in the film.

The actress performing Miss Bates is good though Miss Bates' actions are somewhat exaggerated (she keeps speaking loudly as her rather bemused-looking old mother), and in the end, as touching as Austen would have wished her to be at the insult she receives from Emma. Mrs. Elton is very amusing, if not sufficiently malicious.

Harriet is the film's greatest flaw. Instead of representing her as a graceful, sweet girl, she is both unattractive and stupid. Doubtless the film makers did not wish to over-shadow Paltrow's beauty with yet another beauty, so they opted instead for an unattractive actress.

In summary, I felt that the film makers did too many jarring alterations in the story for the sake of the movie's star, Paltrow, which is somewhat upsetting, and which is yet another reason that she is miscast. Her own performance, which is fair enough, does not make up for this, nor does the fact that she looks stunning in 19th Century dresses. Still, this production is stunningly beautiful, and very entertaining, if the picky Austen fan can prepare himself or herself for a glossy, slightly artificial "Hollywoodian" production of Austen book.

Rating:
Summary: Very Entertaining
Review: If you're looking to be entertained, you will love this movie. It was very well put together and you will fall in love with Gwyneth as Emma. The character is very real. You will definately enjoy this movie.

Rating:
Summary: A pale version of the original
Review: So you're a Jane Austen fan? This movie is probably irresistable for at least one viewing purely for curiosity's sake. Be warned though, that this movie is so full of celebs that are so busy playing dress-up that it absolutely ruins a classic romance and cleverly witty masterpiece. If it's Hollywood's interpretation of England you want, this movie is for you. Otherwise, stick with the Kate Beckinsale version of Emma.

Rating:
Summary: A charming romp in Jane Austen's england
Review: Romantic, funny, witty and charming, this is a wonderful adaptation of Jane Austen's book "Emma" starring Gwyneth Paltrow and the infernally sexy Jeremy Northam, with wonderful supporting turns by the Ewan McGregor, Greta Saaci and the ever-greasy Alan Cumming. Shot was lovely costumes and views of the British countryside, this is engaging and romantic period film captures the essence of the requirements of manners of the period.

Fans of the book might have problems with the casting of Toni Collette as Emma's protegee and matchmaking victim, as she in only very few ways resembles the original character. However, Sophie Thompson is a standout as Miss Bates and Juliet Stevenson, as the wife of the Reverend, is wonderfully unappealing as a party guest.

A very, very enjoyable movie!

Rating:
Summary: A Super, Enjoyable Romp
Review: "Emma" is a delightful film about a young matchmaker who wants to find a match for everyone but herself. After a couple romantic escapades, she finally realizes that the man she really loves is very close to home.
Everything is a lot of fun about this movie, not least of which is the outrageous Miss Bates, and a whole load of other quirky Jane Austen characters. I can't tell you how close this film is to the book, since I've never read it, but I've never heard any Austen fans complain about inaccuracy, so it's probably close enough. The cast is excellent, though I hoped that Mr. Knightley would a bit more handsome (I liked Ewan McGregor better). This movie is purely enjoyable, generally lighthearted stuff recommended for anyone who's OK with subtle humor.

Rating:
Summary: Emma For Non-Classic Fans
Review: I am a big fan of the A&E/Kate Beckinsale rendition, so I approach this from that perspective. This "Emma" appears to be an attempt to upgrade the story to a more contemporary audience. The language is made a little more modern (meaning sloppy), the dance music is almost too fast to give time for graceful movement. A visit to a poor family's cottage is a forced attempt to remind us of life for "the rest of the folks". So this rendition is more PC.

Yet, this movie does present possible logical explanations for some of the A&E gaps, and it does have some interesting spins on how things could progress. Gwyneth Paltrow does not seem to have the emotive repertoire of Kate Beckinsale, which is a diminishment. For those of a more classical bent, this rendition might not satisfy. However, if one reminds oneself that this is NOT the A&E version, it is fairly amusing.

Rating:
Summary: Ack
Review: I saw this movie after having just watched the excellent BBC miniseries production of Pride and Prejudice. It gave me a really bizarre, jarring feeling of disorientation.

In this movie, it's sunny all the time, as if they'd filmed it in Los Angeles, not England. The clothes are all technicolor bright and vivid, not the proper drabness of the period. The lighting is electric light-bright. The score is frantically popping in all the time to give you Pavlovian cues of how funny everything is. And everybody is overacting.

It's the full-on stereotypical Hollywood treatment, and it's a big disappointment. I couldn't even finish watching it. After you have seen tasteful, mature BBC productions of Austen's works, watching this is like a saccharine, over-the-top schlock-fest. It leaves me anxious to see the BBC Emma; I'm sure that it will be much more to my taste.

(That's not to say that Hollywood is incapable of doing Austen right, though; just check out Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility. He really nailed it. What a great director that guy is.)

Rating:
Summary: This film just grows on me.
Review: I'm a fan of Jane Austen's novels as well as the lovely films that have been made of them lately. (Yes, even Mansfield Park!) And I'll admit that at first, I was terribly prejudiced against having Emma Paltrow play this part, and in truth, I think Kate Beckinsale (Jane Austen's Emma, A&E, 1997) portrays a somewhat truer Emma as Austen wrote the character. Paltrow is too sophisticated and not naive enough to be a perfect Emma (not to mention the fact that she's not a Brit). Hence, only a 4-star rating.

But there is something about the way all the characters work together here; the sparkling charm and wit is so engaging while I found the other version of Emma to be - sorry, I can't help it - drab and dull by comparison. (And IMO Beckinsale plays Emma just *too* tiresome and haughty.) Plus, I just LOVE Jeremy Northam here in the role of Knightley... a true Prince Charming! Yes, I know this film is romantic cotton candy - for a period piece - but ultimately, I found myself smiling broadly as I watched this version over and over again, while I viewed the other Emma only once (and then sold it). So FWIW I do recommend this movie as a charming and romantic keeper, although I do think it's the weakest of the Austen books on film.