Sense and Sensibility (1995) Movie Review

Read my reviews of the 1971, 1981, and 2008 Sense and Sensibilitys here, here, and here, respectively.

I may as well start off this review of the much-acclaimed and much-beloved 1995 Sense and Sensibility by revealing to you all that this is not my favorite version. (Whether the 2008 version is my favorite, or whether I have no favorite and think we need a new S&S, I shall leave you until next week to discover.)

Leaving aside the adaptation part and looking at it simply as a movie, there is not a doubt that the ’95 S&S is much better than the two earlier versions. It’s much easier to watch, it has a more engaging screenplay and more engaging cinematography, and has, on the whole, better acting. I am actually undecided on which version technically sticks closest to the book…the 1981 version might win that prize.

Now, as regards the characters. It is true that Emma Thompson was too old to play Elinor. I’m not a stickler for actors having to be exactly the same age as the character they’re playing, but the fact of the matter is that Emma Thompson simply did not look nineteen. (Apparently they made Elinor in her late twenties in the movie to make it more plausible, which was wise, I think.)

That being said, she did make quite a good Elinor, better than either of the previous Elinors, though neither of them were bad. Her Elinor seemed very naturally introverted, which is how I pictured Elinor when reading the book. If she were just younger and seemed a wee bit less mature (not that Elinor is immature; she certainly isn’t, but a nineteen-year-old cannot seem as mature as a thirty-five-year-old), she would probably be very close to how I pictured Elinor when I read the book.

As for Kate Winslet’s Marianne…well, I must admit that I don’t like her. She seemed very cold and unfeeling, I thought. Marianne is supposed to be somewhat selfish, of course, but she is supposed to have a warm heart, and to like her family. I didn’t get much of a sense of that here – she seemed to be always so focused on herself (and Willoughby – which was really just more selfishness, since thinking about Willoughby was pleasant for her). She did stand up for Elinor once or twice, but I don’t recall her ever really seeming that affectionate toward her.

Mrs. Dashwood was not bad. She, again, was too old, but since Elinor was older too that makes sense. (If Mrs. Dashwood looked just a few years older than her daughter, that would be a little strange.) She seemed emotional and not very capable of running her own family, which works well with her character.

We certainly don’t have to complain about Margaret being excluded in this version, since she was indeed there, and had much more personality than in the book. Since her character was not well-developed at all in the book (love it though I do), that’s not a big issue. She seemed more like a twentieth-century little girl than a Regency little girl to me, but hey. At least she’s THERE.

As for Edward…hm. Mixed feelings. I think he was pretty good, but he didn’t seem quite Edward-ish enough. Edward is supposed to be awkward and shy and unattractive at first glance; though Hugh Grant’s Edward was awkward, it felt more like the kind of awkward that’s meant to come across as charming and cute, not the kind of awkward that an actually shy and introverted person would be. Not that shy and introverted people can’t be cute and charming, of course…I guess I’m just trying to say that his awkwardness seemed unreal and un-genuine in a way that Bosco Hogan’s Edward didn’t.

Alan Rickman as Colonel Brandon, however…I’m sorry, but he was just too old. I know there is supposed to be an age gap between Marianne and Colonel Brandon…but it’s not supposed to be a thirty year age gap, which was in fact the difference in age between Alan Rickman and Kate Winslet. That’s just weird. Colonel Brandon is supposed to be in his mid-thirties. He’s younger than Mr. Knightley. There’s no reason to portray him as almost fifty. In this version, the Marianne/Colonel Brandon romance felt more like a father/daughter relationship than anything romantic. It just didn’t work.

I’m not saying Alan Rickman did a bad job (I may have quite liked his Colonel Brandon if he were ten or fifteen years younger), but Colonel Brandon is a character where the age does matter – if he’s that much older than Marianne, Marianne’s complaints about his age cease to be silly and overly romantic and become very understandable.

Willoughby was good. Though I shan’t tell you any of my other feelings for the ’08 version, I shall reveal that I thought its Willoughby was flawed, which makes Greg Wise’s Willoughby the best yet, in my opinion. I don’t think he’s quite as excessively charming as Willoughby should be, but hey, that’s what dream casts are for. ; -)

Lucy Steele was good. She was pretty enough and subtle enough that it was plausible that people would fall for her tricks and not see through her, but she was still obnoxious enough to Elinor. It’s sad that Anne was left out, though. Besides the fact that she’s a fun character, I think that her revealing the truth about Lucy and Edward’s engagement makes much more sense than the way they did it in this version.

Lucy’s too smart for stuff like that. (Not to mention that we once again have an extremely melodramatic reaction from Fanny…sigh.)

Although, speaking of Fanny, she and John Dashwood were quite good. Robert seemed more just unintelligent in an – unintelligent way – than unintelligent in a foppish and self-absorbed way; I’m not sure why they changed that. He was honestly probably more likable this way, but it made it seem rather implausible that he would be the favored son.

I’ll admit to not completely liking Aunt Agatha and Siegrid Farnon Mrs. Jennings and Sir John Middleton. They were so very obnoxious that I don’t think you got enough of a sense that they both did really have good hearts. Also, why was Lady Middleton killed off?

I have mixed feelings about the Palmers, or Mr. Palmer, anyway. Mrs. Palmer I didn’t like very much; she was too silly and annoying even for Mrs. Palmer. And I know this is becoming a common theme, but she was too old. (Imelda Staunton does look like she could easily be Elizabeth Spriggs’ daughter, though, which is a fun plus.)

Mr. Palmer is probably the closest to book-Mr. Palmer that we get, but I think he was made too sympathetic. The way the Palmers are painted in this version, I feel that we’re supposed to side with Mr. Palmer…whereas in the book you feel sorry for both of the Palmers, but if anything have more pity for Mrs. Palmer. (I did, at least.) I feel that we’re supposed to like Mr. Palmer in this version, and I don’t want to like Mr. Palmer. He behaves quite badly. He shouldn’t be likable. Nuanced, yes, complicated, yes, evoking sympathy, sure, but not one of your favorite characters, for goodness’ sake!

At least I can’t complain that Mr. Palmer was amateurly acted in this one, since Hugh Laurie is a fantabulous actor. In fact, it seems a bit of a waste that he was cast in such a minor part.

Now for random things that annoyed me…the biggest one has got to be this scene, where Edward tries to tell Elinor about his engagement. This was so very wrong. Edward couldn’t tell Elinor about his engagement because he promised to keep it a secret. That’s a big part of his inner struggle, and a big part of why his behavior is so strange. If he was going to break his promise of silence at all, he could have told her he was engaged from the beginning and made everything much easier. Or after this conversation with Elinor was interrupted, he could have just written Elinor and told her. I firmly believe they should not have had Edward try to reveal his engagement, but if they were going to, just the conversation being interrupted was an extremely flimsy excuse for not doing it and for giving Elinor a lot of extra heartbreak.

Also, if he was willing to break his promise to be silent, it’s not such a far step to say that he’d have been willing to break his promise to marry Lucy.

Another thing I didn’t like was that the dynamic between Elinor and Marianne really seemed off to me. It felt more like a mother/daughter relationship than sister/sister. I think this probably would have been better if there weren’t such a big age gap between the two actresses (Emma Thompson was thirty-five and Kate Winslet was nineteen), but I don’t think the fact that Marianne seemed so self-centered helped either.

And this scene where Elinor tells Marianne off annoyed me a little. Not because Elinor finally gives Marianne what’s coming to her (GO ELINOR) but because it seemed (to me, anyway; maybe I’m reading the scene wrong) that Marianne was primarily upset just because Elinor yelled at her, not because she was sorry for Elinor or sorry that she treated Elinor badly. I would have found the moment much more touching if it ended with Marianne finally comforting Elinor, not Elinor comforting Marianne.

Oh yes, and we don’t get any Willoughby confession scene. While it’s a bit of a shame, since I do think it’s an important scene, I don’t mind too much. They still get across the message that Willoughby really did like Marianne, and really wasn’t satisfied with his own behavior.

Now, fairness is a good thing, so now I’ll mention random things that I liked, and not just leave it at things I disliked…

I’m realizing as I gather the pictures for this post how pretty the lighting and scenery is in this movie, so good job, camera-people. I like that we got to see Elinor and Colonel Brandon spending time together. I already touched on this a bit earlier, but I’m glad we got to see Mr. Palmer being helpful when Marianne was sick (this is the only version that includes that!). Marianne’s heartbreak over Willoughby was well done, if memory serves, and better done than a lot of Mariannes. Marianne’s wedding dress was pretty.

…I’m having more trouble remembering the good things. Not because there was nothing good about the movie, because there was; my brain is apparently just better at remembering bad things than good ones.

Well, I guess that’s about it. I enjoy watching this movie. There are definitely good things about it, and it’s a definite step up from the previous versions, but I wouldn’t call it a perfect version of Sense and Sensibility.

Next Tuesday I’ll be giving my thoughts on the 2008 S&S, so stick around to see the conclusion of this review series!

What do you think of the 1995 Sense and Sensibility? Would you call it the definitive S&S?