Some fatal attraction means I must watch new Jane Austen screen adaptations although I find them invariably less than satisfying. This version of Emma is no exception as its faults are egregious. I could tell almost straight away it was going to be gimmicky in the way that filmmakers of dubious merit think they can add bits of business to wonderful classics, or distort things completely, as an "improvement". I fantasize that, in a better world, there might be some court to hear applications to make screen adaptations, to determine whether the filmmaker actually understands what it is about the story and the characters that give these works of literature their timeless appeal. So often they don't, as they change and destroy what is so fundamental to the success of the original. Somebody give them a "Cliff's Notes" to read, at the very least!
Emma Woodhouse, the heroine of "Emma" is a likeable, open-natured young woman, who has faults but learns to become a better person. That's in the novel, anyway. The Emma depicted in this film wears alternately an arrogant or sulky expression, seems to have selfish and nasty motives and thoroughly deserves to be taken down a peg, which more or less happens. Newsflash to the filmmaker - she is such an unpleasant person that I don't care. Mr Knightley is a calm, confident sophisticated man of the world, someone of deep and genuine feelings - and dead sexy with it. Johnny Flynn's version is a nice young man but something of a klutz. How does he even like this hardfaced Emma? - again you've lost me. I have to contrast the failure of the lead characters to pull their weight in delivering the story, with the Romola Garai/Jonny Lee Miller version where they got it so right.
To carry on with the catalogue of "wrongness" in this version, Frank Churchill, an important and attractive character in the story, is presented by an actor lacking in looks and charm, a complete nonentity. To mention some minor characters, I fully expected Bill Nighy to ham it up with the Mr Woodhouse character, and he does. But why oh why do they have to make Emma's sister Isabella and brother-in-law John Knightley unpleasant and unhappy people - it's so wrong! While not a major theme, their domestic happiness is a beacon to Emma and Mr Knightley to follow their example, and recognize their destiny. I could go on - Harriet Smith isn't pretty, Miss Bates isn't talkative enough, and Mr Elton is a grinning gargoyle. If I pull myself up with an effort to acknowledge the positives of the film, there are beautiful landscapes and house interiors, and great costumes and hairstyles, real eye candy. The dialogue is reasonably respectful of the original. But I wasn't happy for a minute watching the film. I am entitled to have high expectations of a Jane Austen adaptation, and was majorly disappointed, so only a 4/10.
