Sense & Sensibility

Martin Phipps' score ruined it for me. This is sad, because his score for North & South was superb. For this movie, we hear those same melodies, chord progressions and instrumentations. Here it lacked cohesion, nor did the music tell the story of Sense & Sensibility. In North & South, the score is so perfect, so integral to the story that it becomes an ever present character. It carries us along, expresses their emotions and ours. In short, more than fulfilled its role. Here, the score sounds stolen from N & S, cut, smashed, and an irritating place holder. Like, done by a non-musical sound editor. I agree with other reviews that deem the script, scene selection, pacing deficient. Could a wonderful score have saved it? I doubt it. Sorry, but there it is. Too bad. I like and respect the actors. And Phipps' North & South couldn't have been better.

Not that I completely disliked this series, but I read that the screenwriter stated it would make viewers forget Ang Lee's 1995 film. Yet while watching I could not help seeing in my mind the respective or similar scenes from the film (which I indeed saw many times), each and every one of them being far more engaging and compelling. That says enough.

This was not good. This writer missed the mark completely. The whole point of the story is to show how sensible Elenor is (and possible Colonel Brandon) in dealing with her (their) relationships in comparison to almost every one else. Choosing not to fully embrace the main characters ultimately lead to choppy scene transitions. Elenors dialogue should have been allowed to expand beyond necessity. Too many important connections were left out which created a lot of lost dialogue. The supporting characters almost seemed too sensible and uninvested in their own feelings. We should have been able to see the deep lows and the extreme highs of each lost relationship.

Has anyone noticed that Willoughby bears a strong resemblance to portraits of George, Lord Byron? It hit me when he reads Byron to Marianne. I didn't think him attractive, but then I thought that the idea was to make him look Byronic on purpose. Very clever, Andrew Davies. Subtle touch. There do seem several similarities to other filmed productions of the novel; Fanny's hairstyle, Margaret hiding in the library, etc. I liked the idea of explaining the background story of Willoughby's seduction of Brandon's ward at the beginning. It makes his villainy much clearer, and Marianne's innocence and naivety more poignant. And the shock caused by his and Marianne's impropriety comes across really well. Pity those values aren't in place in our age today.

The casting in this series is very good and overall it is much better than the movie that a lot of people seem to really love. They definitely did Ms. Austen justice!

The acting was quite good. All the principle characters were well represented. The problem was, Jane Austen's dialogue is perfect, as are all her set pieces. No updates are required, no new wives, older sisters, or children she did not herself see fit to place in her story. Duels, characters showing up where they are not meant to be. And all of it pointless, adding nothing to the story, the plotting or the characters. How is the story improved by Sir John Middleton suddenly having a wife, and Lucy Steele an older sister? Watch the 1995 version.

The actress who played Elinor gasps throughout. In this period in history, it would have been perceived as rude to have an open mouth. At times she looks like a landed fish and at the end the shoulder shaking is hilariously bad acting. So her portrayal lets this version down. Left me wondering why she was chosen for this role. The rest of the cast are quite good.

I watched this simply bc it came along as a set, with the DVD I really wanted 'Miss Austin Regrets'. This 2008 Sense & Sensibility mini-series is alright. Midding entertainment. I found a great many scenes to be a waste of time (just one example: repeated scenes of the ocean breaking against the rocks. This version is also more dramatic-less humorous. Most of the characters seemed to stare ambivalently so often. The worst thing was the pacing of this film and how scenes were cut together. Kinda weird. So, I give it a 5. My fav is the 1995 version. Sharper pacing, better acting, dramatic yes, but also much more humorous & entertaining. In fact, 2008 falls so short of the '95 version, one wonders why they bothered. Meanwhile, went to read trivia on this mini-series and was made bored out of my mind by the number of costumes noted for being worn in other films. Good God Willoughby. Will you not speak to me . . . Of something OTHER than costumes . . . ?!