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...but if there is one thing that the history of popular cinema has taught us, it is that audiences do love gazing at beautiful people on the big screen. Living a vicarious fantasy life where you can pretend to be (or be with!) Cary Grant, Marilyn Monroe, Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie is a key component of cinema's allure and no toffee-nosed sniffles about the 'art' of the medium will change that.
I saw this film when it was released in England a couple of months ago and it does a pretty big disservice to Austen, especially after the triumph of Keira Knightley's Pride and Prejudice (which impressed me mightily despite previous misgivings about Knightley's ability to make a believable Elizabeth).