Despite being an English major, I've never been a fan of British romantic novels (or any English manners material) and found ways to avoid them in my undergrad years by specializing in American literature and selecting courses like Romantic Poetry to avoid those British novelists. Thus, I wasn't totally fired up when the first trailers for Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice emerged. Just ten years ago I only lasted through 30 minutes of the BBC's highly acclaimed five hour mini-series on Jane Austen's masterpiece, yet I had found Austen by far the most "tolerable" of the genre and had greatly enjoyed Ang Lee's 1995 adaptation of Sense and Sensibility. Certainly the trailer for the 2005 adaptation appeared visually stunning and the tag line "Sometimes the last person on earth you want to be with is the one person you can't be without" indicated that this version would condense Austen's complex work in entertaining fashion.

And that's exactly what Wright accomplishes! Austen purists can continue to pour over her text for hours, but Wright has constructed an economical 127 minute film that remains true to the spirit of Austen's prose. And it works as a film! Wright doesn't strive to satisfy the hard core Jane Austen Society devotees who equate Austen's text to holy scripture and hang on every syllable of her dialog; those fanatics can dig into the details of the 1995 BBC production, where they can swoon over Colin Firth. Wright mines new territory with bold casting moves, and a realistic earthy production design that will bring more widespread appreciation of Austen. The film begins this weekend in U.S. arthouses, but expect it to gain wider screen coverage in the coming weeks and at least equal the box office success of Lee's Sense and Sensibility.

Focusing primarily on Elizabeth Bennet, Wright needs an actress that can carry the film, and he finds a gem in British actress Keira Knightly, previously best known for Pirates of the Carribean. Smartly cast at the right age for her character, Knightly blossoms into a star here, portraying the most lively Elizabeth yet and displaying remarkable range. While we'd expect her to cover the emotional spectrum with co-star love interest Mathew Macfadyen (as Darcy), Knightly distinguishes herself by standing up as the equal of both Donald Sutherland (Mr. Bennet) and Judi Dench (Lady Catherine de Bourg) in emotionally charged scenes. Elizabeth's private scene with her father is exceptionally poignant, demonstrating understanding and mutual devotion, but her confrontational scene with Lady Catherine is a total knockout�either scene generally being sufficient to attract the attention of Oscar voters.

Dench has even less screen time than she did for her Oscar winning work in Shakespeare in Love, but she's once again unforgettable as she takes on the role of the only true "villain." Her haughty manner, rigidly glued facial expression, penetrating stare, and strongly voiced insults are scary stuff, but Elizabeth meets her attack head on, demonstrating that she too is a woman of substance.

Sutherland makes a highly interesting father. Surrounded by five daughters and a wife (Brenda Blethyn), whose whole mission in life revolves around marrying off her daughters to wealthy men, Mr. Bennet essentially withdraws from the family setting. Withdrawn and unshaven, he emerges only to eat and only springs to life when Elizabeth beseeches him about a marriage proposal. This makes Elizabeth a kindred spirit with her father, as she too surrounds herself in an emotional cocoon that not even her beautiful and shy older sister Jane (Rosamund Pike) can penetrate. Forgetabout her three younger sisters, who giggle and are as obsessed with future marriage prospects as their mother. But that is the norm for turn of the 19th century England, where women were totally dependent on marrying into the proper circumstances.

Also effectively cast is Macfadyen, who portrays a much darker and conflicted Mr. Darcy than rendered in previous productions. It matches the realistic tone that Wright strives for, as Darcy changes his mind about Elizabeth over the course of the entire film—from his first impression about her being "barely tolerable" to eventual all consuming love—all performed with proper English restraint with Macfadyen deliberately holding back for fear of rejection. It's a romantic story of course, but the English require proper protocols for personal protection, and the classically trained British actor controls his body and expressions with precision. His demeanor adds additional depth to the mysteries that gradually unfold about his motivations and character and balance Elizabeth's more animated personality perfectly.

This was a production that I was hoping to at least tolerate, but found myself getting absorbed into the film uncontrollably. Much is due to the acting performances, but the set design itself deserves credit. It's not all squeaky clean with society ladies continually scheming to find their future mates; the Bennet homestead brings earthy realism and humorous delights—sometimes literally. The Bennets obviously don't bathe daily, and we even witness a full sized pig waddle into the family kitchen. They even take long walks through the muddy English countryside before cleaning up nicely for the courting parties—all of which makes them far more relatable as flesh and blood characters.

Wright's Pride & Prejudice won't satisfy the purists, who will quibble over the details and complain that there's too many "Charlotte Bronte" moments (like the Wuthering Heights homage with Elizabeth staring out over a rocky precipice). But Wright is destined to win a far larger audience for Jane Austen and inspire far more sales of her works than all the Jane Austen Society conventions in history. Books are books and movies are meant to be movies, and Wright has surprisingly put together a film that is much more than "barely tolerable." Subtly seducing the audience, Pride & Prejudice ranks as one of the best productions of the year.