Rating: 
Summary: Matchmaking is a Messy Business - But Such Good Fun
Review: Emma Woodhouse (Gwyneth Paltrow) has been raised in the best of English society, but unlike most girls her age, she took up an unusual hobby - matchmaking. She plied her trade well but unfortunately she didn't stop soon enough. When Emma sets up the new minister in town with her dear friend Harriet Smith (Toni Collete) things go awry. As Emma confusedly bumbles around, her wise friend Mr. Knightly (Jeremy Northem) watched with a concerned but loving eye. This exquisite rendering of Jane Austin's classic is full of wonderful acting and beautiful cinematography. Starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Toni Collete, Jeremy Northem, and Gret Scatchi, this film has a treasure trove of wonderful surprises awaiting the entire family.
Rating: 
Summary: Bull's-Eye for Gwyneth!
Review: Yes, this is a MUCH better version of Jane Austen's "Emma" than that with Kate Beckinsale! OH, that one had been such torture for me, that looking at this one again a few weeks back was quite a joy. Gwyneth does a superior job of conveying Emma's own sense of superiority, which is particularly necessary for this heroine, the sole example in Austen's work of a protagonist at the top of the social ladder. Every other young lady in Austen has always to answer to SOMEBODY along the way, but part of Emma's problem is that she has no one to please but herself. Indeed, this is why she encounters as much trouble as she does, because no one can dare counsel her, except Mr. Knightley. We're still not quite there yet with the Mr. Knightleys, but this fellow at least appears to come from the upper class, whereas the Beckinsale one was decidedly not. Miss Bates, the middle-aged penniless parson's daughter, is on the other hand superb. She's the same actress who played Mary Mosgrove in that excellent "Persuasion" some years back. Mr. Elton is served up exceedingly well, too. Somewhat out of Dickens, in the vein of Uriah Heep. To give the Beckinsale one its due, though, I must admit that it had the better Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax. Jane in Gwyneth's is too vague a character to amount to much, and of course, she must! Alas, the character of Lucy still comes up empty. Last time, she was a pale nonentity. This time, she has a stronger silly persona, but is played by a rather lumbering largish person who is not pretty. I presume the casting was thus to ensure that Ms. Paltrow didn't have any competition in her own movie. Lucy, as I stated in the earlier review, is VERY pretty; in fact, her very prettiness is what draws Emma's notice, and convinces Emma that Lucy must marry well, setting off all the matchmaking in the plot. But still and all, this is the "Emma" for me!
Rating: 
Summary: Watch the BBC version instead
Review: This Hollywoodized version of "Emma" completely bastardizes the story and diminishes it in every way. The film is more about Gwyneth than the story itself. Even her hairdo is "clueless." Gwyneth simply prances around "playing" the part of Emma with a "Look at me! Aren't I cute!" attitude. She turns the film into a comedy, completely missing its finer aspects. Low-class and cheap.
Rating: 
Summary: Picture Clarity Lacking
Review: What a shame that the DVD format is so abused by this release. I played my old VHS version after I viewed the DVD version and the color blance and saturation was far superior on the VHS version. The DVD version's images are wanting in sharpness and detail, exhibiting a soft focus throughout; however, the trailers found within the special features on the DVD displayed the sharp focus and rich colors you would expect from a quality DVD. This DVD version should be found in the $[money] budget video shelf.
Rating:
Summary: Gwyneth shines as Emma
Review: Jane Austen's Emma is a biting comedy of manners in which Emma Wodehouse --- played winningly by Gwyneth Paltrow --- sets about making suitable matches amongst her society friends to such an extent that she completely ignores her own life to the point of shambles. She must realize this and turn herself around before she loses both her romantic relationships and friendships. It is easy to see why people often think Paltrow is British after you watch this amazing performance. Equally talented and highly amusing is Sophie Thompsom (Emma Thompson's sister) as the plain Miss Bates, whom Emma has taken it upon herself to match with a dashing man, claiming the farmer Miss Bates has chosen for herself is lacking as a suitor. As an interesting side note, Phyllida Law, Thompson's real-life mother, plays her mother here as well.
Rating:
Summary: Great Movie!
Review: This is a fabulous movie. The situations and plots as the same as in the book and they are all very ironic humourus. The characters are all done very well. They even added stuff that wasn't even in the novel. The book is pretty much equal to the movie, but I must confess in some ways it's even better.
Rating:
Summary: Delightful
Review: This is a very different adaptation of a Jane Austen novel to all the others I have seen, but I found the difference refreshing and fun. There is very little seriousness in this movie and I actually thought it enjoyable to be able to laugh during a period piece. Emma Woodhouse is a young women with no interest in marrying, so she takes in upon herself to see that she finds a good "match" for her new friend, Harriet Smith. Of course, Emma messes everything up but she barely realizes what chaos she is causing, which is downright funny. She also thinks she knows everything that is going on in her social circle, but she really doesn't know anything, which is also hilarious. Finally, Emma quite unexpectedly (to her and to the viewer) falls in love herself, saving everyone from her matchmaking scemes. Most of the performances in this movie are first-rate. Gwyneth Paltrow is excellent as Emma, in my opinion. She is perfectly snobbish in a likeable sort of way which is exactly what Emma is suppose to be. Her only flaw is that she might be slightly overbearing, but I really enjoyed her performance. Jeremy Northam is a perfect Mr. Knightly and Toni Collette is wondeful as the clueless Harriet Smith. I must give credit for the best performance to Sophie Thompson for her portrayal as the incessant bore, Miss Bates. What I particularly liked about this Jane Austen adaptation is it was less serious and had more humor. It is more lighthearted and the wit is more obvious, which not only makes the movie a bit more relaxing to watch then some of the other Austen adaptations, but shows how versitile Jane Austen was as a writer. I think a great deal of thought went into how the novel would be adapted for this movie, which shows respect for the author. This is definitley a movie I would recommend to just about anybody.
Rating:
Summary: solid adaptation of Austen
Review: I prefer (in some ways) the BBC version of this that stars Kate Beckinsale, but this is a very solid production. The acting is uniformly strong, the production values wonderful, and the cast is unusually attractive (even for a movie). The script varies from the book somewhat more than I expected (it diverges a little more even than "Clueless"), but it didn't bother me. If you are a hardened Austen fan you might prefer the Beckinsale version, but you'll want to see this one, too, and if you aren't, you'll probably prefer this version.
Rating:
Summary: Really,really,dreadfully,scarily,woryingly bad
Review: I hate this adaptation.Paltrow is drippy,insipid and just isnt Emma.O.K,so im not a great fan of the book but i love Pride and Prejudice(book and film)and thought i would give this a go.I can see im kind of in the minority here as everyone seems to love it but the sad truth is in my opinion it is boring ,badly acted and i hate Paltrow.The co stars are at best passable and most of them are not even that.When a film is taken from a book it needs to have 3 main ingreds:It needs to be 1: faithful to the book 2:interesting and lively and 3:well acted.This adaptation has none of these.So basically dont buy it.If you do be prepared for v.bad acting
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful.
Review: I am an 18 year old male, who writes reviews on scientific books, likes sports, and cares nothing about novels. But this movie, and the book, are absolutely great. The way Austen, and the movie, capture a timeless struggle in society is compelling. This is my favorite romantic-comedy-in-victorian-times movie (actually, regency era, not victorian), without a doubt.It actually makes you change mood as the characters do. The cast is simply magnificent, and Paltrow is absolutely brilliant as Emma...I should mention too that the movie is a pretty good adaptation of the novel, with the usual limitations of course.
It is quite distressing to read other reviewers suggesting the storiline was [taken] from clueless....Jane Austen wrote Emma in the 1800's.
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