from the film first shot keira knightley a elizabeth bennet wander read through a field at dawn and thus invoke all the clichés cinema have develop to address the phenomenon of the strong mind rebellious female character in period drama i know i be in for something to make me want to kill myself . joe wright seem not only to have not read the book and but to be under the regrettable misapprehension that what he be film be not in fact jane austen subtle and nuanced comedy of manner conduct through sparkling and delicate social interaction in eighteenth century english drawing room and but a sort of u certificate wuthering height . thus we be treat to every scene between elizabeth and darcy take place outside for no apparent reason and in inappropriately rugged scenery and often in the pouring rain . not to mention that jane austen and and in particular p and p and be not about passion and sexual tension or love . it about different strategy of negotiate the stultification of eighteenth century society . which be completely ignore and so that the bennet house be a rambunctious and chaotic place where everybody shout at once and run around and leave their underwear on chair and and pig wander happily through the house while the society ball become rowdy country dance one step away from a matrix reload style dance orgy while and everybody say exactly what they think without the slight regard for propriety . the genius of jane austen lie in explore the void create by a society in which nobody say what they think or mean because of an overwhelming regard for propriety and and the tragic predicament of her character arise from misunderstanding and miscommunications enable by that speechless gap . so both the brilliance of jane austen and the very factor that allow her plot particularly in this film to function be completely erase . subtlety in general be nowhere int his film and sacrifice in favour of an overwrought drama which jar entirely with the material and the performance . it be so obviously try to be a serious film . the humour which be pride and prejudice and both austen methodology and her appeal be almost entirely suppress in favour of all this po face melodrama and and when it be allow in and be handle so clumsily . pride and prejudice be a serious narrative which make serious point and yes and but those serious point and weighty theme be not just intertwine with the humour and they be embed in it . you can not lose jane austen technique and leave only the bare bone of the story and and expect the theme to remain . not even when you replace her technique with your own heavy hand mystical numinous fauxbrow cinematography . elizabeth bennett be suppose to be a woman and an adult and mature and sensible and clear sight . keira knightley play the first half of the film like an empty head giggle schoolgirl and and the second half like an empty head schoolgirl who think she be a tragic heroine . elizabeth wit and her combative verbal exchange and her quintessential characteristic of be able to see and laugh at everybody folly include her own and her strength and composure and and her fantastic clear sightedness be completely lose and replace with . what . a lot of giggle and star into the distance . rather than be able to keep her head when all about her be lose theirs and she start to cry and scream at the slight provocation and not genuinely rag and either while no and these be petulant hissy fit . and where the great strength of austen elizabeth ( at least in austen eye ) be her ability to retain integrity and observance while remain within the boundary of society and sustain impeachable propriety and knightley elizabeth have no regard whatsoever for convention . furthermore and she seem to think that wander around barefoot in the mud in the eighteenth century version of overall establish her beyond doubt a spirited and strong mind and and therefore nothing in the character a write or the performance have to sustain it . an astonishingly unsubtle and bland performance . in which quest for blandness and weakness and she be ably match by matthew macfayden . donald sutherland a mr bennet seem weak and ineffectual and permanently befuddle without the wicked sense of humour and ironic detachment at the expense of human relationship that make mr bennet so fascinating and tragic . his special bond with lizzie and a the only two sensible people in a world of fool and be completely lose and not least because both of them be fool in a world of fool and and that completely deprive the end of the film of emotional impact . mr bingley be no longer amiable and well mean to the point of folly and but be play a a complete retard for cheap laugh and and the woman who be play jane be so wildly inconsistent that she may as well not have try to do anything with the character at all . the script veer wildly between verbatim chunk of jane austen deliver with remarkable clumsiness and totally contemporaneous language which would not be out of place in a modern day romantic comedy . just get the bbc adaptation on dvd and save yourself the heartache .