Just Friends

" How long had Mr. Knightley been so dear to her, as every feeling declared him now to be?" - Jane Austen's Emma

This adaptation is good but not my favorite. I really enjoyed the humor between Emma and Mr. Knightley and Harriet's simple minded ramblings. The casting wasn't the best, I did really enjoy Gwyneth Paltrow as Emma, Jeremy Northam as Knightley (perhaps a bit too handsome but a true gentleman), Juliet Stevenson as Mrs. Elton (love her ramblings, she's so horrid!), and Sophie Thompson and Phyllidia Law as Miss and Mrs. Bates.
All other castings were rather silly or overdone in my opinion. I was very dissapointed with Ewan McGregor as Frank Churchill, he didn't have much screen time and was a bit corse instead of being chraming. I did have fun watching Alan Cumming as Mr Elton but he wasn't quite charming enough.
Costumes were lovely and so was the scenery but they were also a bit too theatrical, big screen and overdone for Jane Austen's tiny Highbury. The music was lovely and the script was closer to the book than I would have expected for a big screen adaptation.

I love the story of Emma, though it's not my favorite Jane Austen. I've always viewed Emma as a mystery of sorts where the truth is not discovered even by Emma until the very end when they work out the details of what actually had taken place. The friendship that developes into a deep and abiding love is just how I'm praying the Lord will work in my life when the time comes.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." - Jeremiah 29:11-13

Mood:

Thoughtful