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Sense and Sensibility Customer Reviews (4 - 6 of 85 Reviews)

Too Old?
S&S was the first adaptation of an Austen novel I saw, and I liked it immensely - still do.

Several other critics have found fault with Emma Thompson's age, stating that she was too old for the part; allow me to comment on this:

Thompson is not the only actor who is accused of being too old to play one of Austen's heroines. To me, it often seems to be the other way around: Elinor is surprisingly young for such a sensible young woman.

We don't have to look very far for the reason, however: Compared to us people had very shortened life spans in the ages before the invention of modern medicine. Just think of Mrs. Bennet (in Pride & Prejudice) who is permanently afraid of her husband's death of old age, although he is in his late forties or early fifties at most.

As people's lives were shorter and their world much smaller than ours it is not to be wondered at that characters in Austen's novels who are some twenty years old, appear surprisingly adult to us.

One way to compensate for this is to cast actors who are quite a bit older. If not, trouble often results; just look at Keira Knightley who *is* in the right age bracket and decidedly too immature to play Elizabeth Bennet (Pride & Prejudice again).
Emma Thompson on the other hand is completely convincing as Elinor.

Good, but overrated
Sense and Sensibility may be my least favorite Jane Austen novel, but that doesn't mean I don't love it. This movie was a pretty good adaptation, but I think it is overrated. Maybe it is to do with the fact that I think the book is slightly weak in comparison to her others. Or maybe it's just the film. I liked some of the changes Emma Thompson made, such as enhancing the character of Margaret, showing Elinor and Edward falling in love, etc. Most of the actors were great, including Alan Rickman (though his character was definitely made sexier than his boring book self), Greg Wise, and Kate Winslet. But I didn't really like Emma as Elinor. At 36, she was way too old for the role (Elinor is only 19) and while I know that can be seen to enhance her "sense" and show how she is mature and everything, I think it took away from the character. For Elinor to have those qualities at such a young age, really says more about her, I think. I also didn't like how she wrote that it was illegal for women to inherit in her screenplay. Why did she have to deliberately give the audience the wrong idea about inheritance in those days? Hugh Grant's Edward is also changed from the book, stuttering all the time. In spite of this, I think he is a more sympathetic character than he was in the book. I was not a fan of his at all. However, this is still a good adaptation and I dont want to discourage anyone from seeing it.

Loved it!
This movie is from a classic and is well done on screen. For those who like romantic movies or stories in the old English era, this is for you!

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