Pride & Prejudice (***)

Pride & Prejudice is as good as I could have hoped it to be. I'm not that into period piece romances, but this one is lively and engaging. It's well-acted and directed with an eye towards modern sensibilities, but nothing that would remove it from the period context. For example, there are some well-staged scenes early on in which the camera just sort of glides through a house as a giant dance party goes on. I thought Keira Knightley was fantastic. This is a great role for her. The biggest surprise for me though was Donald Sutherland. He has the money scene in the end, where he has to juggle sadness with happiness for his daughter, and it's really moving. Judi Dench also turns up and is basically Judi Dench as herself, or as every other character she's played on screen before. It gets a bit old. Luckily though, this is a fresh adaptation of an often adapted book. There is much to admire here, and though I never fell for it completely, I did enjoy it while it lasted, and it leaves a pleasant aftertaste.