Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Pride & Prejudice (2005) - Wright's marriage drama makes the mind wander off

10/06/2023

Pride & Prejudice (2005) - Wright's marriage drama makes the mind wander off

♥♥

Star Keira Knightley and co-star Matthew Macfadyen in beautiful sunset light on a field makes up most of this pretty poster for Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice

Late 18th century England: The Bennet family have more than one daughter who are ready to get married off. A young soldier, a priest and the mysterious Mr. Darcy are among the suitors.

Pride & Prejudice is written by Deborah Moggach (Final Demand (2003, TV movie)), with Emma Thompson (Effie Gray (2014)) contributing uncredited work, adapting the same-titled 1813 novel by Jane Austen (Mansfield Park (2014)), and directed by debuting Joe Wright (The Soloist (2009)).

Overwrought over-acting characterizes more than one of the performances in this plush adaptation that is essentially a coming-of-age romance. The young women are extraordinarily giggly and excited, and I for one could not attach myself to them to the required degree, despite lead Keira Knightley's (Domino (2005)) at times charming nature. There are none other to seriously cling onto, and the archaic family story, which solely concerns getting the 'girls' married in a suitable fashion, thus becomes terribly distant and unappealing.

Darcy is played with almost humorous sulk and lack of positivity by Matthew Macfadyen (Ripper Street (2012-16)), and it sure is a mystery here why Knightley's Lizzy falls for him. Donald Sutherland's (Ad Astra (2019)) soft patriarch performance nevertheless stands out as moving. Wright's possible qualities as a director remain hidden here.

Watch a trailer for the movie here

Cost: 28 mil. $

Box office: 121.6 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 4.34 times its cost)

[Pride & Prejudice premiered 25 July (Hamburg, Germany) and runs 127 minutes. Shooting took place from July - October 2004 in England. The film opened #10 to a 2.8 mil. $ first weekend in 215 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #6 and in 1,335 theaters (different weeks), grossing 38.4 mil. $ (31.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 26.5 mil. $ (21.8 %) and Germany with 7.1 mil. $ (5.8 %). The film was nominated for 4 Oscars, winning none: Best Actress (Knightley), lost to Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line, Art Direction, lost to Memoirs of a Geisha, Costume Design, also lost to Memoirs of a Geisha, and Score (Dario Marianelli), lost to Gustavo Santaolalla for Brokeback Mountain. It also won 1/6 BAFTA nominations, was nominated for 3 European Film awards and 2 Golden Globes, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to 4 notches over this one. Wright returned with Atonement (2007). Knightley returned in Domino (2005). Pride & Prejudice is certified fresh at 87 % with a 7.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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10/06/2023

Pride & Prejudice (2005) - Wright's marriage drama makes the mind wander off

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