Sense and Sensibility (2008)

Sue Says:

5 Stars*****

What can I say? I love Jane Austen. I love her happy endings (that's saying a lot because I am not usually a happy ending kind of girl). I admire Elinor’s calm and her ability to see things clearly and I adore Marianne’s outspoken emotional perspective.

Sense and Sensibility is the story of two sisters who have the misfortune of being women and therefore having no control over their futures. When their father dies their half brother inherits everything and Elinor, Marianne, their mother and younger sister are forced to live in a much different manner than they are accustomed. In a time when everyone was defined by their fortune it seems unlikely that either sister will be able to make a good match, but this is Jane Austen after all. There is love, romance, and misunderstanding all around.

Oh, yeah, the movie, this one is my favorite version yet. The settings are beautiful. Especially the seaside, I would live there in a cottage any day.

The cast is age appropriate, unlike the 1995 version when Emma Thompson played Elinor. Emma is a fine actress, but Elinor is 19 and Emma, I don’t know if she ever was. Fanny Ferras Dashwood (the wife of their half brother) could not have been more perfect. From the moment I laid eyes on her I wanted to scratch hers out. I always wish whoever is playing Col. Brandon was a little more handsome, but I suppose that’s part of his charm.

I won’t give away the ending, but even though I knew what was going to happen, I found tears running down my cheeks.