"Sense & Sensibility" (2008)

"Sense & Sensibility"

From the disappointment of Emma Thompson's work on this very novel, I must admit I was happy to learn that the man behind the excellent Pride and Prejudice TV-miniseries of 1995, Andrew Davies, also had written an adaptation of Sense and Sensibility.

Of course there's no Colin Firth or Jennifer Ehle taking the leads here, and there's not such a material to take from as it was back then. I'll easily admit I've found S&S a mediocre Austen work, or as mediocre as her work ever could be, so it's impossible to expect the quality of P&P even if Davies writes the adaptation.

Still there's no doubt Davies understands Austen, and he's once again done a remarkable job to keep the good parts of the novel. The dialogue, the flow and the progress of the story are all done with both an understanding of the story as well as with an understanding as to how to make sure it works on TV.

While most actors and actresses participating are unknowns, they've done a great job bringing life to the scenes. I especially enjoyed Charity Wakefield as Marianne, Mark Williams as Sir John and Linda Bassett as Mrs. Jennings.

This mini-series will not take you by much surprise, but writer Daview and director John Alexander have done much justice to Austen in this adaptation. Any fan of Austen should enjoy it and so should any fan of the genre as well, but they didn't have the original quality to manage much more than they did. For that I feel Austen alone is to blame, and then there's really not much more to be said.