The crowded ballroom scenes were also distracting for me. It was difficult to follow the characters who were important. I thought the BBC version was 'cleaner.'
My thoughts are also that it is impossible to get all that plot into two hours. Maybe three might have done it more justice, or maybe cutting a character or two completely. I thought that they might have done a better job in editing. For instance, why so long a scene on the swing? There were so many parts that were choppy that might have been filled in a bit with more time. If you didn't know the plot well, I don't think you could follow it.
I thought Darcy did fine, but at the beginning, he didn't seem haughty and proud.........he just seemed mean. Hard to compare with Colin Firth........I thought he was perfect in the role.
I wasn't too impressed with Keira Knightly, and it may be a petty thing, but I thought she didn't translate well into the late 18th century because of her lips. (Silly?) She just looked like a 21st century doctored young actress to me. I thought her acting was fine........and my husband pointed out that she did 19th century well in Pirates of the Caribbean. And she did.
I liked Donald Sutherland, and I liked Mrs Bennett too..........much 'earthier' than in the BBC version. Oh........and Wickham looked more believeable, but his part was almost non existent.
The scenery was magnificent.
Overall, I enjoyed it very much in spite of its flaws.
I found Mrs. Bennet a lot easier to take in the new film. The A&E - oh mercy - she is aggravating! She really overplayed Austen's reference to her annoying voice.
<< difficult to follow the characters who were important. I thought the BBC version was 'cleaner.' >>
Yes and yes. If they hadn't tried to force us to feel as though we were in the ballroom, and had used that precious introductory time to focus on the faces of the main cast, it would have been much better.
Darcy - he had to grow on me, but I thought he developed as the movie went on.
I, too, wondered why they wasted so much time on the swing, and in a few other places. Time that should have been given to dialogue and character development.
This version's Mr. Wickham has faded from my memory bank, but after reading your remark, I do recall thinking the same thing as you wrote -- more believable.