Mansfield Park

source: Mansfield Park

RUN, do not walk away from this mess of a supposed adaptation of a heretofore respected piece of literature. A supposed director should never attempt to direct a piece that he or she neither respects or believes in. (Personally, I think Hemingway is over-rated. I would never, however, rewrite a work of his and try to pass it off as an alternate take on the original!) The actor that portrayed Henry Crawford has much potential; he was wasted on bad writing and idiotic directing. I don't know if I should say "God save the Queen" or "God help us all"......I think both are appropriate when I think of this travesty that passes itself off as a Jane Austen film.....

I haven't read the book. The reason being that I find much of the books written about rich, idle, boring people in that era, tedious; a time waste and immeasurably dull beyond belief. So I suppose it 'not being anything like the book', which all the 1,2,3 & 4 scoring reviews keep telling us about, is a very, very good thing. It's an excellent film and an intelligent one. Absolutely recommended!

This was one of my favourite Austen books, and least favourite period adaptations. The references to the period are all contradicted, and Fanny's character is quite changed and not for the better. I thought there was too much focus on the slavery angle which isn't a central theme in the book. Fanny is supposed to be a very timid, quiet girl, and her uncle kindly. Neither of these comes across in the film. Edward's straightforward romance with Fanny from the outset in this film is a mockery of the book which weaves a far more interesting and complicated story. The setting and scenery also seemed poorly thought out - Mansfield Park is described as an elegant, rich dwelling - and yet the walls are crumbling and the set looks cheap. I don't mind an adaptation that changes the story if it does it well, but all in all, I couldn't finish this movie as it was a offense to the book and a once-fantastic story.

If Jane Austen were alive, she would be furious at this mangling of her work! I had never read MP, but have read Austen's other books. While watching this pile, I said to my wife, "I've got a hundred bucks says Jane never had one sex scene, or one mention of slavery in MP!" To verify, I read MP. Not there. This is just another lefty taking her political ax to Austen's work to make a 'statement'. For shame. Reminds of 'Field of Dreams' when they just HAD to take an otherwise wonderful movie and stick in the book banning scene. The libturds just can't help themselves. They soil everything they touch.

I was surprised about how the movie deviated from the book. Some of the changes seemed pointless, but I did like the change of adding the slavery aspect to the movie. It gave Tom far more substance than he was allowed to have in the book. I especially liked how Jane Austen's humor was accurately portrayed in the movie. Fanny did have some memorable and extremely witty lines. I was upset about her agreeing to marry Henry and then changing her mind. She really did hurt him very badly. I don't remember that happening in the book. The scene only seems to damage Fanny's character and I'm not sure what the writer was trying to accomplish by adding it.

I was flipping through the channels when i stumbled upon this movie. I decided that I needed some time to kill so I watched the movie. When it was finally finished I had mixed feelings about the movie. At times i felt bored and confused. The movie in my opinion doesn't really stay true to the novel. But whateva. 4/10

It's actually a really great movie up until the 1:26:27 mark, then the film just falls apart. I don't know if I should blame Patricia Rozema or Jane Austen, since I have read that the film does stray away from the book in some aspects. Either way, I was left feeling disappointed.

This had the potential to be good, but made two errors. First it tried to treat Austen with irony - never a good move - so you don't believe in any of the characters or care about them. Then it used her juvenilia (mainly History of England and Love and Freindship) to jazz up the story of Fanny Price's move into the high society of her rich relations. There are compensations, but sadly not amongst the main cast. As Fanny, Frances O'Connor is not right at all; and Jonny Lee Miller is poor as Edmund Bertram. Better are Lindsay Duncan and Hilton MacRae as Fanny's parents, Sheila Gish as Mrs Norris, James Purefoy as Tom Bertram, and Harold Pinter as Sir Thomas. A pity then that this film isn't as entertaining as it could be, and fails to follow in the footsteps of other Austen adaptations such as Emma, Pride and Prejudice, and Sense and Sensibility.