The story of who ends up with whom, and how they get that way, is told with deft skill and a pleasantly humorous romantic touch.Īs is so often the case in British productions, acting is more important than the script or the impressive production values.

The girls live with their mother (Gemma Jones) in a small country cottage to which they are 'exiled' after their half-brother inherits their father's estate and decides there's not enough room for everyone.ĭuring the course of Sense and Sensibility, three men come in and out of the Dashwoods' home: Edward Ferrars (Hugh Grant), a charming, if somewhat inept, young gentleman who captures Elinor's heart Colonel Brandon (Alan Rickman), a gallant neighbor who is hopelessly smitten by Marianne and the dashing Willoughby (Greg Wise), who is the living embodiment of Marianne's every fantasy. We're introduced to the three Dashwood sisters: Elinor (Emma Thompson), the eldest - a old maid past marriageable age who keeps her emotions bottled up in favor of a constant show of public decorum Marianne (Kate Winslet), the middle child, who is Elinor's opposite in temperament and attitude and Margaret (Emilie Francois), an eleven-year old who seems to be following in Marianne's uninhibited footsteps. The resulting product is a little too long (one-hundred thirty-five minutes), but still represents a fine time at the movies, especially for those with a bent towards historical romantic melodramas.Īs mentioned above, the story isn't all that complex or surprising, and those unfamiliar with Austen's work won't be left in the dark. Emma Thompson's screenplay has remained faithful to the events and spirit of the book, while somehow managing to plug a few holes and infuse the tale with more light humor than is evident in Austen's original text. Sense and Sensibility is a wonderful motion picture, even given the weaknesses of the source material. That's more in the nature of literary criticism than a film review, however. Austen's later books, including Persuasion, which was developed into a wonderfully sumptuous film earlier this year, and Emma, which received unusual treatment in Clueless, plumb the human soul far more deeply, creating characters and situations of greater versatility and vitality. Sense and Sensibility was the author's first published work and, as is often the case with early writing efforts, displays an undeniable shallowness: themes are half-developed, characterization is uneven, and plotting follows a predictable straight-forwardness. It's a curious thing that the best 1995 adaptation of a Jane Austen book happens to be of her worst novel.

Alan rickman sense and sensibility