Pride and Prejudice (Keira Knightley, Talulah Riley, Matthew Macfadyen)

(Amazon UK link)

I was a little reluctant to watch the 2005 version of 'Pride and Prejudice'. It's not that I dislike movie versions of books; indeed, Jane Austen's novels seem to translate particularly well to the screen. But I had so much enjoyed the BBC mini-series that I was fairly sure that this shorter version would be disappointing.

However, sufficient people recommended this to me that I eventually put it on my wishlist; and we finally got around to watching it last night.

Being so much shorter than the BBC version, it was inevitably rather cut down as far as the various sub-plots go, but I thought that it was still true to the book. There was some excellent casting, other than Mr Bingley who we thought very weak.

It was evidently given a much higher budget for extras than the BBC version had; the balls were particularly lavish, and the sound track added to the atmosphere in a positive way.

All in all, I thought this version of the classic book very enjoyable. Particularly recommended if you don't know the book, or want to introduce someone else to it without spending house in front of the screen.

Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews