ada
the leading man is my tpye
Nayan Gough
A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
Raymond Sierra
The film may be flawed, but its message is not.
nickym85-1
SPOILER: Fanny got drunk, she accepted Mr Crawford's proposal, then took it back. Sir Thomas rapes his servants, Maria's affair hit the papers, William wasn't even in it! And Edmund and Fanny were basically hot for each other the whole time - Miss Crawford was his second choice! Just no. I can't handle this rubbish.
johnpelaro
Having read the book and having enjoyed the fine Masterpiece Theater adaptation , I took this film for what it aimed to be...Sexy and sensationalistic . The portrayal of Fanny price is totally ridiculous , although Frances O'Connor is certainly first rate eye candy , and talented as well . This gentle , somewhat timid young lady ...the novel's heroine , is depicted as a sharp tongued and ever self confident modern day woman in this farce . It must be added that the book is a very serious one , and certainly not a comedy ! Well , it is entertaining , but it is a far cry from Austen's Mansfield Park ! The references to slavery and the disgusting sketchbook scenes relating to it add nothing to the novel's theme . The positive ratings many have given this film speak only to our modern obsession with cheap thrills and prurience . Do yourself a favor , if you truly loved the book , and check out the 2007 adaptation !
secondtake
Mansfield Park (1999)A remarkably clear-headed film that make Jane Austen real and alive. The heroine here is perhaps even a bit like Austen—though the actress is prettier, by all accounts—and it includes letters read by the character that are seemingly Austen's words. But what the cast and director Patricia Rozema pull off here is fabulous. There is no one reason this movie works so well, except of course the really scintillating, funny writing of Austen herself. The lead character is Fanny Price, played with true joy, angst, and subtle wit by Frances O'Connor. The two men who court her on and off are strong enough as men to be convincing, but they are perfectly still young men, barely more than boys in years, and they have those youthful flaws. Which is part of the fodder for Austen's wit.And social observation. If you don't quite catch the way she plays social classes against each other you miss part of the substance. It isn't just that the poor niece ends up at the rich uncle's house, but that this same niece has the perception to see through their facades. And to keep mum until just the right moment.This isn't a liberation film where the woman charges to victory in a big speech or by a power play. Instead—and this is one reason Austen is still readable today—the woman simply comments on the issues in a way that makes clear her more advanced views, and the obstacles slowly fall away through outside circumstances (rather than her own doing). The passivity of Fanny Price might bother some people, but that's exactly her role, as a character, in this pageant.One last point—slavery. This is the one novel of Austen's that gets her in trouble for her languid views on the uncle's use of slaves in the West Indies. The movie seems to twist this into a more modern condemnation, which helps us stay sympathetic to the whole shebang. There is even an added scene of sketches (done in a way rather like Goya's socially critical drawings of the same time, with some Kara Walker thrown in) which make clear the crisis at hand.If you want to dip into Austen through a movie, choose between this and the 2005 "Pride and Prejudice" and you won't be disappointed. Of course, if you want to read the book—that's even better. More modern and fresh than it "should" be for 200 years ago.
isapaiva
Full disclosure: even though I am a huge Austen fan, and have read all of her novels, I do not like Mansfield Park. I found Fanny boring, and to me Edmund truly seemed to treat her like a sister in the book, and I remember thinking that if I were him I wouldn't have romantic feelings for such an insipid person either (to be honest, he was pretty dull himself). Because of my lack of love for the book, I'd never seen any adaptations of Mansfield Park, and was specially glad to stay away from this one, so hated by my fellow Austen fans.I decided to see it this week for truly shallow reasons: I discovered Jonny Lee Miller was in it, and I think he's really hot, especially in this phase of his life (great actor also). So I watched it, and surprisingly, really liked it! I completely understand why fans of the book hate it, if one of the other five Austen books were changed to this extent I would have a fit. Fanny is a completely different character, though a much more interesting one in my opinion. The outrage fans showed over the slavery storyline is specially understandable, it's such a jarring storyline to insert, not to mention it makes Fanny into such a Mary Sue in her "I'm ahead of my contemporaries in understanding that slavery – which has nothing to do with the actual book – is bad" mindset. Also, yes, Frances O'Connor is much too old to play Fanny.Perhaps because I was already well aware of these shortcomings, I let myself enjoy the movie without nitpicking. I found this Fanny a truly engaging character, and for the first time I found myself cheering for her and Edmund (in the book I couldn't care less about her love for him, and the only reason I wasn't surprised he returned her affections in the end is because it's an Austen book and I knew the heroine would get her happy ending). This was because both actors gave much more energetic performances than were to be expected if the script followed the book more closely, IMO.In summary: not for fans of the book, completely understand their opinion, but I still liked it. And my crush on Jonny Lee Miller has increased tenfold!
