Persuasion (starring Amanda Root)

It had been over ten years since we watched the 1995 BBC adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel ‘Persuasion’. When we last saw it, I had read ‘Persuasion’ just a few years earlier, so was mostly familiar with the story. However I had not re-read it in the intervening years so had almost entirely forgotten the characters and the plot.

Not that there’s a great deal of plot, and very little action. As with most of Austen’s classics, this is a social satire, a character-based story where genuine love triumphs in the end. The main character is Anne Elliot, the quiet, likeable (and rather put upon) middle daughter of an impoverished upper class family. Amanda Root is excellent in this role.

Anne’s father is extravagant, snobbish and selfish. Her sister Elizabeth is similar. Debts force the family to move to Bath for a while, and rent out their huge stately home to a friend’s brother. Anne - whose feelings are rarely considered - has to visit her youngest sister Mary instead. Mary is married with two sons, but she is a hypochondriac, and as selfish as her father.

There are some mildly amusing and brief scenes where Mary, her husband Charles, and his likeable mother and sisters confide in Anne, all hoping she can do something to calm her nephews and persuade her sister to complain less…

Anne herself is nursing a broken heart; at nineteen she turned down an offer of marriage from someone with no prospects and no real background. It’s evident that she was persuaded to do this by well-meaning friends, but wishes she has followed her heart. And the young man, Edward Wentworth (Ciaron Hinds) comes back from the war, and reappears into her life….

I found some of the short scenes at sea a tad confusing. They were not part of the book, but then again, they show the background for a couple of the characters, contrasting their courage and integrity with the selfish Mr Elliot. For modern viewers, particularly those unfamiliar with the novel and perhaps unaware of the history of the era, they add some realism.

‘Persuasion’ is inevitably a bit slow-moving in storyline; it doesn’t have the gorgeous scenery of the adaptations of some of Austen’s other books, but the settings nonetheless seemed authentic. The acting is excellent, and on the whole we enjoyed it.

Other recommended adaptations of Jane Austen books include:

• Sense and Sensibility
• Pride and Prejudice (BBC series)
• Pride and Prejudice (2005 film)
• Emma (ITV version)

Review copyright 2019 Sue's DVD Reviews

The Wilde Wedding (starring Glenn Close)

From time to time Amazon recommends films to me, based on what I have previously liked or bought. One such recommendation was ‘The Wilde Wedding’. I assume that’s because this is in the ‘rom-com’ genre and I have enjoyed several films of this kind.

It starts well. The teenage Mackenzie (Grace van Patten) is narrating, and also filming events as her somewhat dysfunctional family members start to arrive for the weekend. She has a good style of delivery, and sets the scene well. She informs us that her grandmother is getting married again, but that she’s absolutely not allowed to refer to her as a grandmother….

Glenn Close stars as Eve Wilde, who is about to get married to her fourth husband, Harold (Patrick Stewart). Her adult children aren’t too sure about this, nor is her favourite ex-husband, Laurence (John Malkovich). But the family, extended family, former family members and friends gradually gather in a huge house where the wedding is to take place.

I found the sheer number of people rather overwhelming; it was hard to keep track of who was whom, as more and more people kept arriving. None of them was particularly memorable. I thought that perhaps this didn’t matter, but then much of the film involves conversations and some rather sordid illicit liaisons. In fact, there’s not much more to the plot which seems to be a farce rather than a comedy, with very little actual romance until towards the end.

The acting was good - and we found ourselves, more than once, reminded of Meryl Streep; Glenn Close is not related to her, as far as we know, but seemed to have her mannerisms and expressions, and even her tone of voice in several places. I don’t know if this was deliberate or not.

But there really isn’t much story. There are a few good lines, and one or two scenes which we found amusing, but on the whole we found it rather trite. We kept watching despite some scenes which we would prefer not to have seen, and, happily, the film was redeemed by the ending.

Perhaps it was trite; perhaps it was predictable. But it was absolutely the right ending, giving a much more positive message than the rest of the film about the importance of friendship and genuine liking and trust in any relationship.

The UK's 15 rating reflects the adult (but not too explicit) nature of the film; the US rates it as R, probably due to the bad language, the sexual content and the use of recreational drugs.

Review copyright 2019 Sue's DVD Reviews