Scents and Sensibility

I probably should have rated this even lower, except it's subjective, I'm trying to compare it to other bad movies I've seen. I'm a huge JA fan, both of her books and many of the movie/TV adaptations. Lost in Austen is an example of a good modern adaptation of JA story. Anyways, my complaints with this were many. The acting was poor, the writing was worse. Yes, problems like costumes are bad and distract from believability, perhaps miscasting. I found the story was offensive and poor choices were made. There is such a thing as taking a story too far from its original subject matter (and still claiming it to be an adaptation, or even based on an original story). I agree with others that having the father's circumstance be changed so drastically was an insult in itself. Also the fact that his entire family just writes him off and seemed little distressed over his fate other than how it directly affected them, even Eleanor who has classically been the loyal and dependable sister/daughter. This story is significantly changed also in that the mother and younger daughter (whose story is also significantly different) are seen in the beginning and then pretty much disappear for the remainder of the story. Yes, the main players are mostly visible, but don't expect this story to run parallel to the original much at all. Many of the scenes are so ridiculous, they are laughable. I would call it "very loosely based" on the original S&S. My recommendation would be, skip it unless you have a strong stomach for the ridiculousness.

Even if the film is predictable and nothing to do with JA¨s book, it has its moments of fun. What I found most distracting in the movie is that Ashley Williams wears a necklace with an A THE WHOLE MOVIE, when her character¨s name starts with an E. The dialogues are unbelievable put in the mouth of grown ups, which by the way, behave like teen agers.

Based on the novel by Jane Austin, "Sense and Sensibility" the movie does not actually capture the characters and does not even attempt to address the philosophical question, sense vs sensibility that makes the book what it is.

All the characters are there but the acting is insipid, the dialogue stilted and the directing amateur. Whoever did the costume should find another job because the dress of women who "grew up going to golf tournaments and garden parties" looks like it came from Walmart.

Watching awkward scenes with people who don't seem to have any feeling about what they are saying is embarrassing to say the least and I only left it on while I was busy in the kitchen or I would have had to switch it off. My husband already switched it off 5 minutes in after watching a character have a secretive conversation about her boyfriend while sitting a hand span away from him.

Don't waste your time.

The start of the movie is a little lousy and drastic however as you move further into the characters, the movie starts to gain momentum and catch your heart.

Especially after the entry of the two male characters, the movie picks a nice touch romance and misunderstanding..nothing too innovative but well handled.

The acting of all the main characters is very good. Although Nick Zano does not have a lot of role to play in the movie, he does make an impression with his acting, especially in the scenes in the copy room, showing confidence of a successful professional and awkwardness of someone who just started dating.

The climax of the movie could have been a little elaborate, although it does its job. I would highly recommend watching the movie at leisure.

Both female leads were excellent in their roles and for a modern twist on an old classic I'd give 9/10 (though I'd rate the whole movie a 6/10). Williams fabulously portrayed the older sister in this movie - very credible depiction of a sensible sibling who tries hard to make everything work. Similarly, Sokoloff managed to pull off a very tough job of making a romance obsessed character likable.

I thought the fall from wealth to the working class was well done. That said, in both Austen's book and this work, the family hardly experiences complete loss nor does the foray into say "working class" or "middle class" really depict the toughness of life for the overwhelming majority of the world.

Definitely appreciated a clean movie (no unnecessary violence, obscenity, vulgarity, etc.)

I'd rate the entire movie middle-of-the-road though (despite the excellent acting of the 2 leads) for a few reasons. First, most of the side characters seemed one-dimensional and over-the-top. Second, though I greatly appreciated the focus on family ties and delving into the foundations of relationships I don't know exactly what the take-away message is from either Austen's book or this movie. Sure, note that we could take either an emotional or sensible approach to finding a life mate. But beyond that what is the main message? Even if you develop really shallow relationships and don't try to understand why, it might just all work out in the next connection? Put your effort on re-claiming lost prestige and status? That might be too harsh for die hard fans of Austen but to me the message of a movie is what carries most weight and I couldn't quite decipher what that message was.