Director: Ang Lee
Running time: 136 minutes
Starring: Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman, Hugh Grant, Hugh Laurie, James Fleet.
Written by Emma Thompson, based on the novel by Jane Austen.

Review for the MTV generation: amusing, light diversion for an afternoon. It’s neither memorable nor outstanding enough to deserve its Oscar nomination.

Mr. Dashwood dies and must leave his fortune to his son by his first wife. This leaves his second wife and her three daughters only a small yearly stipend (500 pounds) to support themselves. After being accustomed to living in the top strata of the English titled class, this fall demoralizes them. Their attempts at setting up house, and their various entanglements with male suitors form the remainder of the plot. Emma Thompson plays the sensible (Sense) Elinor Dashwood, and Kate Winslet plays her emotional (Sensibility) younger sister, Marianne.

There’s something about the British that has always captivated me. I’ve enjoyed many British TV series, such as Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Red Dwarf, and Blackadder. I’m also prejudiced in my appreciation of Emma Thompson—not only is she an outstanding actress, but she also happens to be left-handed. So when I say that I enjoyed this film, you may want to take these things into account.

Dialogue: as in most British period films, it sounded like an episode of "Masterpiece Theatre" (although I’ve never seen an episode, I’ve got an idea of how they sound). I’ve never read any of Jane Austen’s books, so I don’t know how much of the dialogue was hers, and how much was Ms. Thompson’s. It sounded different enough from today’s English to give the feel of an earlier era, and seemed consistent throughout.

The aspect of the production which raises it above your standard movie fare is the acting; it is uniformly superb. As expected, Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet are deserving of their Oscar nominations. However, Alan Rickman is also excellent in the role of the rock-solid, dependable Captain Brandon. He always does a fine villain, but he was unexpectedly good as one of the good guys. Hugh Grant (Edward Ferrars), while playing his standard bumbling, handsome Englishman, does a fairly good job, though he may be the weakest link in the cast.

Hugh Laurie, who I recognized from the Blackadder series (as the idiot lieutenant and the idiot prince) as well as the upper-class twit Bernie Wooster from the series "Jeeves and Wooster," is excellent in a small role as a grouch whose main task consists of responding in monosyllables to his wife. Likewise, James Fleet (John Dashwood) is good as the hen-pecked husband. I recognized him from "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Peter’s Friends."

The modern actors do a fairly good job of fitting into the 19^th century. The fact that everyone wears hats that make them look mildly ridiculous (to my later 20^th century eye, anyway) diverted my attention slightly, but otherwise the look of the film was quite good. The English countryside and mansions lend the proper feel to the film. One interesting moment was when the ladies have to step aside to avoid some horse manure—something very natural considering all the horses around, yet seldom seen in these types of movies. Overall, it was a pleasant two and a half hours, though not extraordinary.