Pride & Prejudice (2005) [PG] ***** (updated 12MAY2025)

Elizabeth Lizzie Bennet (Keira Knightley) lives with her father, mother and four sisters in a dilapidated English country estate, around the year 1800. The estate provides a limited income, however, according to inheritance law after Mr. Bennet (Donald Sutherland) dies, the estate will pass to Mr. Collins, a distant cousin. Mrs. Bennet (Brenda Blethyn) and her five daughters will be homeless and destitute. Thus, the daughters need to secure their future by making good marriages.

One day, word arrives that a nearby estate has been leased; Mr. Bennet invites the new residents, Mr. Charles Bingley (Simon Woods), his sister Caroline (Kelly Reilly), and Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen), to a local ball, where he hopes the two young gentlemen will find his daughters irresistible. Mr. Bingley is captivated by Lizzie's beautiful older sister Jane (Rosamund Pike), but the very wealthy, and very proud, Mr. Darcy finds Lizzie barely tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me. Lizzie overhears Mr. Darcy and, quite prejudiced, declares I wouldn't dance with him for all of Derbyshire.

How Mr. Darby improves his manners and Lizzie changes her mind about him form the core of this incomparably beautiful romance that has, since its publication in 1813, been considered Jane Austen's most popular novel. Keira Knightley perfectly captures the essence of charming, irrepressible Lizzie, to whom Mr. Darcy later admits you have bewitched me, body and soul. Knightley and Macfadyen have terrific romantic chemistry; your attention will be riveted on them as their eyes sparkle and they toss witty, ironic dialogue at one another. The screenplay, direction, editing, costumes and sets are outstanding; the supporting cast is uniformly excellent, including the three younger Bennet daughters Mary (Talulah Riley), Kitty (Carey Mulligan) and Lydia (Jena Malone), Mr. Wickham (Rupert Friend), Mr. Collins (Tom Hollander), Charlotte Lucas (Claudie Blakley), and Lady Catherine de Bourg (Dame Judi Dench). The cinematography is breathtakingly beautiful; the landscapes look like paintings by John Constable (1776-1837), and you will feel as though you've been transported to the 19th Century English countryside. If you enjoy period romantic drama, don't miss Pride & Prejudice.

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This is the YouTube video of the gazebo scene in the rain, in which Fitzwilliam asks Elizabeth for her hand in marriage. I consider this a pivotal scene because the story pivots or changes upon it, there is a strong flow of emotion between the leads, the director tries to capture it in one take, and the credibility of the story depends upon the viewer believing it. LINK TO VIDEO

This is the YouTube video of the last nine minutes of the film, including his early morning walk across the field, his declaration of love and her response, asking Mr. Bennet for her hand in marriage, and the night scene at Pemberley just after they are married, found only on the U.S. version of the film. LINK TO VIDEO

Indulging in my fondness for epilogues and sequels, in the candid picture below, Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam have been married for a week or two. They are enjoying getting to know one another, finding the rhythms of their life together. You can tell that he is totally in love with her, and very protective of her. You can also tell that she is not overly impressed with his wealth, or the grandeur of Pemberley. What is important to her is to understand his heart and mind, how he feels and thinks; this is what she wants and needs.

In the formal yet intimate picture below, they are settling into married life and becoming comfortable with the rhythms of their life together. With his head in her lap Fitzwilliam is thinking Yes, she married me, and I am the most fortunate man in the world. With her hand on his forearm, Elizabeth is thinking Yes, we are married now, and he is all I will ever need or want, and I will love him and take care of him for the rest of our lives together.

In this picture below, they have been married for nearly a year and have settled nicely into married life. They have begun to anticipate each other's thoughts and feelings. Fitzwilliam cannot believe how much he relies upon Elizabeth's judgment; he can hardly remember what his life was like before they were married.

Labels: drama, Keira Knightley, period, romance, rom-drama-faves   
IMDb 78/100    
MetaScore (critics=82, viewers=82)    
RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=75, viewers=86)     
Blu-ray1    
Blu-ray2 
James Berardinelli's review 3.5 out of 4 stars

The recent popularity of the film and this review has encouraged me to add this footnote. I hope you will indulge me.

Late in 1985, Tom Hanks went to Israel and made the romantic drama Every Time We Say Goodbye (1986), based on a true story. Hanks plays David Bradley, a Presbyterian minister's son from Missoula, Montana, who is flying Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft for the British RAF in North Africa in 1942 during WWII. In Jerusalem, while convalescing from an injury he sustained after being shot down in combat, he meets and falls in love with Sarah Perrera (played by Cristina Marsillach) a Sephardic Jewish girl, but it is a forbidden love and ends sadly.

In 2022, I became inspired to write a sequel to the film and gradually realized I was channeling David (1917-2002) and Sarah (1924-2017), who wanted me to tell the story of their life together after the film ended. I will not publish it, but you are welcome to read it here.

LINK TO SARAH AND DAVID: THE SEQUEL