A Private War

A Private War

Acacia Filmed etc.

November 16, 2018

War Drama

DVD
D

Yeah, not my kind of movie, although it's always nice to see Tom Hollander.  Matthew Heineman directed.  

Pride & Prejudice (2005)

Pride & Prejudice (2005)

StudioCanal etc.

16 September 2005

Historical Drama, Historical Comedy, Romance

DVD
C+

I found this disappointing at the time, particularly in contrast to the BBC production of a decade earlier.  I've watched it once or twice since then, before today, and it's not like I hate this version, but I do feel it's over-rated.  Today I tried to figure out what was lacking, and I couldn't help comparing it to Bride & Prejudice, which has a shorter runtime and yet manages to include several memorable song & dance numbers.  B & P also leaves things out (including the Kitty-equivalent) but I've never felt that it fails to develop so much of what it does include.  To take one example, by giving us hardly anything of Wickham, and changing the circumstances of his involvement with Georgiana, the weight of his elopement is lessened, as is his character as a counterpoint to Darcy.  Furthermore, I don't really get any sense from this movie of the bonds between characters, especially the Lizzy & Jane sisterhood.  Verdict: this remains watchable but unsatisfying.

Joe Wright directed, a couple years before the also flawed, C+-earning adaptation Atonement, which has Keira Knightley as well.  Emma Thompson apparently contributed uncredited dialogue.

Libertine

Libertine

Isle of Man Film etc.

18 November 2005

Historical Drama

DVD
C+

I didn't exactly like this movie but I thought it was interesting enough, in its protagonist and its setting, to watch until the end.  I believe Rosamund Pike gave the best performance, as the long-suffering wife.  Laurence Dunmore directed.

Gone Girl

Gone Girl

20th Century Fox

October 3, 2014

Mystery

DVD
D-

Gillian Flynn's adaptation of her novel has impressively unrealistic, "arch" dialogue.  David Fincher directed and seems to have gotten a bit worse since The Game and Fight Club in the '90s.  But I didn't "hate" the movie.

An Education

An Education
Sony
18 January 2009
Historical Drama, Romance
DVD
B

Nick Hornby adapted Lynn Barber's memoir of the same name, which is set in London in the early '60s and tells of a teenage girl's education in life through an affair with a charming older man.  The period details feel accurate and, unlike with Edge of Seventeen, I was drawn into the story and liked the characters even when I didn't like their actions.  (Emma Thompson has a gem of a role as the sensible if anti-Semitic headmistress.)  Special shout-out to Molina as the scene-stealing but heart-tugging father of the protagonist.  I almost added "Historical Comedy" as a tag, since the movie is sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, although the film does get heavy at times, yet thankfully never tragic.

Lone Scherfig directed.