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It is a universally recognized fact, as someone once wrote, that Jane Austen’s novel is the forerunner of the modern rom-com.
And so we find ourselves, in a new adaptation of “Sense and Sensibility” by Daisy Edgar-Jones, rooting for one thing: a kiss. A simple kiss, to break through the misunderstandings and misunderstandings and finally dissolve that romantic tension.
Of course, we get it. Elinor locks lips with Edward, out there in the grassy fields of Devon, just as Bridget Jones did with Mark Darcy, on the snowy streets of London. It’s a beautiful kiss, and worth the wait.
But then … we get something better: Hug, between sisters, even more joy. And that is what we remember as the credits roll.
Sisters. They’re not just “making it for themselves” in this new version directed by Georgia Oakley – we’re still in 18th century England, after all, and young women need to find husbands.
But Oakley, seeking a 21st-century approach to Austen’s classic, finds a way to shift the emphasis from romantic chemistry to a deeper chemistry between the naive Elinor (Edgar-Jones, in the role of “sense”) and the turbulent Marianne (Esmé Creed-Miles, in the role of “sensation”, and these two stories alone seem to be enough to repeat the three scenes.) decades since Ang Lee’s 1995 version won an Oscar for Emma Thompson’s screenplay.
Oakley also brings a welcome natural feel to a script by Diana Reid, with a strong sense of nature itself but also economic hardship – or what stands for economic hardship in Austen’s novel. When Eòinor and her mother (Caitriona Balfe) and her sisters are sent to a small cottage when their father died, they are barely hungry – they still have a servant, after all. But they share clothes, their hair is messy, they do rural work. Their dresses are even colored.
We start with bad news. Marianne is lying in the grass, with the caterpillars, waiting for the day’s letters. Soon, the Dashwoods are in tears. The father has left his wealth to a son from a previous marriage, meaning that John Dashwood and his impatient wife Fanny (Stacy Martin, funny) move into their sprawling country estate.
Mum and sisters soon camped out to a much smaller cottage – just one servant – in Devon, with the help of Miss Jennings, “your mother’s cousin’s wife’s mother,” as she calls herself (Fiona Shaw).
But not before Elinor falls in love with Edward Ferrars (George Mackay), Fanny’s handsome brother, when he visits the family.
These two seem perfect for each other, both dignified and sensible but also just a little sexy underneath – Edgar-Jones and Mackay are well matched here.
Problems arise, however – duh, this is an Austen novel! Ferrars is, well, otherwise engaged, literally. Elinor learns this on a trip to London, from her lover. It takes the rest of the movie to sort this out. Meanwhile, Marianne is going through her own romantic journey.
You don’t have to count the times that Marianne has to explain here that she is the passionate one, more in touch with her turbulent feelings, and that she expects the same from a partner. A little too much, anyway.
But Creed-Miles, whose mother, Samantha Morton, gets a scene-stealing moment of her own in “The Odyssey”, gives an interesting turn as his sister who, apparently wearing everything on her, makes it completely believable when she screams in the rain or laughs with delirium. Or falling apart with Willoughby, a handsome rake (nicely played by Frank Dillane) who comes in to save her when she turns her ankle on the beach.
These two, too, seem perfect for each other – especially when they dance. Kudos to choreographer Holly Blakey, who makes the best of two social dance scenes: the exuberant country “hop” (what fun the performers have), and the more refined but still creative London ball.
But Willoughby, as Austen readers know, will be an even more elusive catch than Ferrars. Meanwhile, waiting in the wings is a man of few words – and initially, few feelings, or so Marianne thinks – the steadfast Colonel Brandon (Herbert Nordrum).
Will he find a way to her heart? It’s hardly a spoiler to reveal the ending of a novel published centuries ago, but more importantly, we know how all rom-coms end – with the “rom” part working out, somehow.
We are happy for the sisters, of course. They landed a couple of nice guys.
But the majority? We are glad they have each other.
“Sense and Sensibility,” a Feature Focus release, has been rated PG by the Motion Picture Association “for some thematic elements, partial nudity and brief violence.” Running time: 132 minutes. Three stars out of four.
