Lindsay Doran film. Doran explained, "For 10 years I'd been trying to find somebody I thought could adapt it. Usually romantics are too optimistic and dreamy to see Austen's cynicism, and satirists are too cynical to believe in romance." Thompson fit Doran's criteria for a good screenwriter, despite the actress never having written a screenplay before. The resulting production of "Sense and Sensibility" earned Thompson an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, making her the only person to have won an Oscar for both her writing and acting (Thompson won the Best Actress award for "Howards End", in 1993). Along with producing,
Sense and Sensibility (2008 TV series) stepped out of the shadows of two formidable predecessors: Ang Lee's gorgeous 1995 film version of the novel, and scriptwriter Andrew Davies's own masterpiece, "Pride and Prejudice"." Davies enjoyed Morahan's "luminous" performance as Elinor, as well as Williams and Morrissey's turns as Sir John and Colonel Brandon respectively, although she thought the opening scene was "misconceived". Davies' colleague, James Walton, proclaimed, "In the end, this "Sense and Sensibility" was perhaps brilliantly competent rather than surpassingly brilliant. Nevertheless, it still proved easily good enough to get the costume-drama year off to a hugely enjoyable start." The crew of "Sense and Sensibility"