Reviews

Apparently the guys who made "Shrek" didn't think their movie was funny enough on its own (which it was) so they had to throw in some extra bonus junk. Unlike the outtakes shown over the end credits of the Pixar films "A Bug's Life," "Toy Story 2," and "Monsters, Inc.," this didn't seem half as inspired.

The sing-along was cute... the first time through. Fortunately it's a bonus feature on the DVD; the VHS copies stuck it in right before the end credits. I guess that's why they made the fast forward button on the remote.

As a stand-alone film, the 1940 version of Pride and Prejudice is passable. There's other romantic films made around the same time that are infinitely better, though.

As an adaptation of a classic novel, this film really really sucks. While the film and the novel share the same basic plot and all the same characters, the similarities end there. Mrs. Bennett trying to race Lady Lucas in a stagecoach? Lady Catherine's ridiculous turn of character at the end of the film? What's the deal here? As far as the performances go, Laurence Olivier and Edmund Gwenn turn in good ones as Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bennett, and Greer Garson makes for a tolerable Elizabeth. Otherwise, the cast is nothing to write home about.

If you want to disengage your brain and watch some romantic fluff, this is the movie for you. If you want to watch an adaptation of Jane Austen's novel that both preserves the plot, the characters, and the dialogue and brings them to life, go rent or buy a copy of the 1995 BBC/A&E version starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. Yeah, it runs just over 5 hours, but it's well worth it.