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#138 - Sense and Sensibility
Ang Lee, 1995
A pair of sisters move to a new home and contend with some romantic conflicts.
What does it say about a film when the time comes to write a review and you just draw a blank when it comes to reviewing it? My first attempt at reviewing Sense and Sensibility was a brief paragraph that didn't quite fit this site's criteria for an actual review, so I figured I should at least attempt a slightly more in-depth review. The film is not actually bad - not a certain measure of bad - but my main problem is that Sense and Sensibility just kind of...exists. From a technical standpoint, it's decent - having an accomplished director like Ang Lee behind the camera and the impressive production design that's part and parcel of any British period piece definitely makes it look good. Unfortunately, the story it's based around...not so much. It's weird how Jane Austen's source novel is considered a classic and the screenplay (written by lead actress Emma Thompson, no less) managed to win an Oscar, but the story itself didn't strike me as all that interesting. Some class struggle here, some romantic complications there, things are sometimes funny and often sad...it all just kind of blurs together a bit, and Austen's dialogue is only sporadically interesting as characters have exchanges that range from the charmingly quaint to the tragically heartfelt. At least the performances are decent - Thompson and Kate Winslet are good enough as the unsurprisingly different Dashwood sisters, while Hugh Grant's infamously awkward charm suits his character well and Alan Rickman puts his usual nasal delivery to good use. It probably deserves a second chance, but I think I'll save that for another time.
Ang Lee, 1995
A pair of sisters move to a new home and contend with some romantic conflicts.
What does it say about a film when the time comes to write a review and you just draw a blank when it comes to reviewing it? My first attempt at reviewing Sense and Sensibility was a brief paragraph that didn't quite fit this site's criteria for an actual review, so I figured I should at least attempt a slightly more in-depth review. The film is not actually bad - not a certain measure of bad - but my main problem is that Sense and Sensibility just kind of...exists. From a technical standpoint, it's decent - having an accomplished director like Ang Lee behind the camera and the impressive production design that's part and parcel of any British period piece definitely makes it look good. Unfortunately, the story it's based around...not so much. It's weird how Jane Austen's source novel is considered a classic and the screenplay (written by lead actress Emma Thompson, no less) managed to win an Oscar, but the story itself didn't strike me as all that interesting. Some class struggle here, some romantic complications there, things are sometimes funny and often sad...it all just kind of blurs together a bit, and Austen's dialogue is only sporadically interesting as characters have exchanges that range from the charmingly quaint to the tragically heartfelt. At least the performances are decent - Thompson and Kate Winslet are good enough as the unsurprisingly different Dashwood sisters, while Hugh Grant's infamously awkward charm suits his character well and Alan Rickman puts his usual nasal delivery to good use. It probably deserves a second chance, but I think I'll save that for another time.