Movie Reviews

Since there are not enough Jane Austen novels (and I can’t write fast enough to keep up either), many of us feed our need with repeated watchings of our favorite film adaptations. We may not have the time to re-read Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility just now, but in as little as two hours we can revisit the characters and stories we love with a movie!

I didn’t set out to be a movie reviewer, but over the years I’ve ended up writing several. So I thought it was time to gather them all together to make them easier for readers to find. Here’s the list as it stands so far. As you will notice, not all are Jane Austen adaptations (some are what we’ll call JA adjacent). You’ll also notice that I haven’t reviewed all existing JA adaptations… yet! Look for a list of my favorites at the bottom.

Here are a few other related posts you might enjoy!

Since I don’t have official reviews for every film adaptation of a Jane Austen novel, I thought I would at least give you a list of my favorites:

  • Pride and Prejudice 1995 mini-series: My all-time favorite of any JA adaptation. This is the one that got me hooked on Jane Austen in the first place and launched me on my writing career to boot! The longer format allows a more complete telling of the story, it’s very faithful to the book, and then there’s Colin Firth’s Darcy. Need I say more? Although there are good things about the other P&P adaptations, to my mind (and my heart) they can’t compare.
  • Sense and Sensibility: This is a more difficult call. The 2008 mini-series is wonderful. I own a copy and watch it periodically. But it hasn’t quite supplanted my first love in this category: the 1995 movie with Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, and Alan Rickman. When I read the book (and when I wrote Colonel Brandon in His Own Words), those are the faces I see.
  • Persuasion: Again, it’s 1995 with Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds. What a great year for Jane Austen films!
  • Emma: I can’t choose! I like them all (for different reasons). I own and watch them all – both 1996 films, 2009 mini-series, and even the quirky 2020 film. For more about this, see links above to The Mr. Knightley Pageant and the review of Emma 2020.
  • Northanger Abbey 2007: Felicity Jones and J.J. Fields are adorable at Catherine Morland and Mr. Tilney, and I enjoyed extending their story into married life in Murder at Northanger Abbey!
  • Mansfield Park: Sadly, I have been dissatisfied with every film adaptation of this novel, but I hated to be without one entirely. Recently, I have added the 1999 version with Frances O’Connor and Jonny Lee Miller to my collection as the best available (see link to the review above).