SmallFaerie

As a generic modern romcom, I suppose this is a perfectly ok movie. Just as good as any of the numerous similar bland romcoms Netflix has to offer. As an adaptation of one of the most heartfelt, nuanced and intelligent classics however, it's nothing but an abomination. It has next to nothing in common with the source material, and I don't mean unimportant details like breaking the forth wall or the diversity casting, which were definitely not the problem, but the fact that they changed both Anne's character and so much of the actual script that what we ended up with is a story that simply couldn't happen the way it did. This version of Anne wouldn't have been persuaded by anyone of the family members she so openly despises to do anything at all, let alone not marry someone she is infatuated with, as she is very clearly depicted as completely emotion driven. Austen took great care crafting a story that could actually happen and the movie creators treated it like a lego set, thinking they could just break things apart willy nilly and put them back together with some old pieces, some new and all in whatever structure they fancied. Well, that doesn't result in an adaptation of the original story, it results in something completely different, and while that may result in great new stories (something it unfortunately didn't this particular time), it's not an adaptation of the old story anymore - it's inspiration at best. And all the talk in the reviews about purists and Austenites has nothing to do with anything. Most people labelled as either love plenty of modernised adaptations of Austen's work, when they actually manage to be adaptations of the source material. Clueless is probably the most well known and it's the perfect example of when it's been done to perfection - Cher retains the personality of Emma and Tai is likewise recognisable as Harriet. Josh manages to be a believable modern version of Mr Knightley by making him a serious college student, and their somewhat close, but not too close, familiar bond is recreated in a funny, modern way by making him the child of a previous wife of Cher's father. The high school setting in a fancy part of LA mimics the social setting of the society that the Woodhouse and Knightley families move in and the small changes of side characters like Emma's father don't detract too much from the story because they've still been made in a way that gives Cher the opportunity to act in a similar fashion (Cher still takes care of her father just like Emma does). No similar smart and funny changes have been applied in this "adaptation" that I can at best view as a parody on the book. And I would even have been fine with them making a parody, had they just openly advertised it as such.