Hannah Johnson (HJ)

I approached this with an open mind, trying to find the virtue in it, and understanding that it would (as a movie) necessarily be a very much shortened version of the book. I cannot explain how disappointed I am. Not just disappointed but actually a little annoyed. 😆 Okay, quite annoyed…Lizzy is smug, self assured and always sporting a grin that does her character no credit as to depth or interest. She is only ever barely dismayed by even the most upsetting of situations and seems to shrug that feeling off and return to being lightheaded and smug as soon as humanly possible, before the viewer is ready for it. Mr Bingley is a consummate buffoon. I’m sure they were trying to make him “cute” but he simply appears vapid and possessed of a dismally low IQ. Mr. Darcy, however, is another level of unfaithful to not only the original story but to Darcy’s character as represented in nearly all versions—he is supposed to be haughty; arrogant; unlikable: NOT pitiful and adorable. Everything in the entire movie is rushed beyond credibility. It would be understandable as an adaptation to a point but it reaches a level here that makes one wonder why they even bothered. The movie moves so quickly it gives the viewer no background and no understanding as to how things can possibly be as far along as they are; Darcy’s proposal, for instance, comes so long before they even have a justification for being attracted to each other that it’s just impossible to believe. The dialogue is also awfully watered down, as tho modern audiences need the British English so much simplified that it literally doesn’t sound realistic anymore. I am not at all impressed and feel like it was an unhappy waste of $3.99. 🤦‍♀️😆