Robert Langdon: "So, you're the last living decendent of Christ?"
Sophie Neveu: "Yeah, I guess so... What should I do now?"
Robert Langdon: "Well, it seems to me that the most important thing is to make sure that the bloodline continues."
Sophie Neveu:
Robert Langdon: "You know, biological clocks, and so forth."
Sophie Neveu:
Robert Langdon: "Speaking of which, I'd be more than happy to take one for the team, as it were."
-----
Update:
Sophie Neveu: "So, I can't walk on water, but I can call down fire from heaven. The sequel ought to be very interesting..."
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Friday, May 19, 2006
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Hollywood, meet Jane Austen. Miss Austen, meet Hollywood.
I saw the latest adaptation of Pride and Prejudice tonight.
Two hours and seven minutes can't contain the whole of Austen's novel, so I was prepared to see some significant changes to the plot. Fortunately, the plot doesn't suffer--it's the dialogue and character development that bear the brunt of the damage. Some of the best lines from Austen's novel were mangled or eliminated, often to be replaced by standard Hollywood tripe. Austen's cast of characters includes several who are caricatures of specific personality traits, but this screenplay muddles the distinctions between the characters I want to like and those that I expect to loathe. Lizzy, for example, ends up looking a bit like her mother (she claims not to be marrying for money, but her conversion at Pemberly is apparently brought on by the sight of expensive statuary). The dynamic between Mr. and Mrs. Bennett is... I'm not sure what the screenwriter is going for, but I'm pretty sure it's not what Austen is going for. Wickham's role could be adequately played by a cardboard cutout.
I was prepared to forgive all of this until I heard Darcy say "you have bewitched me, body and soul". Almost everything after that line was pure Hollywood fluff. The final five minutes left me rolling my eyes in annoyance.
Given the limitations of a two hour movie format, compromises had to be made. I'm not sure that those compromises were handled as well as they could have been, but it could have been worse. On the other hand, why settle for a two hour movie? Bottom line: Buy this, it's better.
Two hours and seven minutes can't contain the whole of Austen's novel, so I was prepared to see some significant changes to the plot. Fortunately, the plot doesn't suffer--it's the dialogue and character development that bear the brunt of the damage. Some of the best lines from Austen's novel were mangled or eliminated, often to be replaced by standard Hollywood tripe. Austen's cast of characters includes several who are caricatures of specific personality traits, but this screenplay muddles the distinctions between the characters I want to like and those that I expect to loathe. Lizzy, for example, ends up looking a bit like her mother (she claims not to be marrying for money, but her conversion at Pemberly is apparently brought on by the sight of expensive statuary). The dynamic between Mr. and Mrs. Bennett is... I'm not sure what the screenwriter is going for, but I'm pretty sure it's not what Austen is going for. Wickham's role could be adequately played by a cardboard cutout.
I was prepared to forgive all of this until I heard Darcy say "you have bewitched me, body and soul". Almost everything after that line was pure Hollywood fluff. The final five minutes left me rolling my eyes in annoyance.
Given the limitations of a two hour movie format, compromises had to be made. I'm not sure that those compromises were handled as well as they could have been, but it could have been worse. On the other hand, why settle for a two hour movie? Bottom line: Buy this, it's better.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)