jenhowell77

The top reviewer on here rightly calls this film originally and wrongly calls the film a mess. It's not a mess - it's just not a cookie- cutter film with a paint-by-numbers plot. What it does have is thematic elements aplenty (what's real love, what do we owe people, how we leave traces of ourselves with another person, the nature of comedy, the power of alcoholism) that somehow blend seamlessly together and converge on an exactly perfect ending.

What it also has is ridiculously good chemistry between Chris Rock and Rosario Dawson. It jumped off the screen. Dawson is severely underutilized in lead roles, but she has plenty of quality screen time here.

The movie also has a ton of great supporting pieces including truly unexpected cameos.

It's one of the best comedies I've seen in years. Highly recommended.

This is, bar none, the best of the Austen adaptations, alongside Ang Lee's "Sense and Sensibility" and the 1995 Roger Michell version of "Persuasion." If you saw the Keira Knightley P&P and think you know the story, think again Two hours is simply not enough time to do justice to the hilarious characters and biting satire of Austen, nor can the romances of the story be fully developed and paid off in that amount of time. Six hours is exactly right, and there is not a second wasted. Every bit of screen time is devoted to either developing character, advancing the story (and giving the necessary background), or painting a portrait of the Regency era. You can watch and re-watch this film and come away with new details each time.

Moreover this series was perfectly cast. Of course, there's Colin Firth. But Jennifer Ehle is Elizabeth Bennet and David Bamber comes close to stealing the whole show as Mr. Collins.

As an avid reader of all Austen's novels, this movie is one of the few that completely captures Austen's spirit, her wit, and the complexity of these seemingly simple little stories.

This movie isn't going to win best picture anytime soon, but short of "Dirty Dancing" this might be the best fun summer romance there is. It's one of those stories that lets you spend time with several female archetypes: The Bad Girl, The "Fat" Girl ready to come into her own, The Goody-Two-Shoes/Nerd and The Dutiful Pretty Girl. While this may seem cheesy, it's a structure that's been working since Jane Austen gave us Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty and Lydia Bennett. Women enjoy trying on various identities vicariously, and (to move back into the future) we all have a little bit of Carrie and Samantha in us. Of the actresses in this movie only two have much name recognition - Bridget Fonda's delicious bad girl and Phoebe Cates' debutante about to marry the wrong man. But all the actors suit the tone and contents of the movie, and it ends up feeling realistic, if only because this particular formula - the summer fling on vacation - is something that often happens in real life. This movie is a joy to watch for its Myrtle Beach period location, its sexy but not explicit romance, and, of course, the titular dancing of the shag. Download it with your girlfriends and have a fantastic slumber party.