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Rating:  - My fault ordered wrong one
I thought this was the one from the Jane Austin series shown recently on PBS, but it is not! Althought it is ok, I doubt I will watch it again, I'll most likely put in in our annual Spring Garage Sale!
Rating:  - Persuasion (The Movie)
I'm wild about the Jane Austen novels and movies made from these novels. This one was fair, but I felt like a lot of the story was left out. It is difficult to consolidate a Jane Austen novel to screen however since she was so very detailed in her books. Actors were wonderful though. All in all an enjoyable movie. Mrs. R. Miller
Rating:  - Love this film!
Another great adaptation of Jane Austen work; cast is excellent. I had been looking for this one for a while, too. :)
Rating: - Simply THE BEST Version of Jane Austen's PERSUASION
In my opinion, this film is the very best version of film adaptations of Jane Austen's PERSUASION. The casting seems perfect and the subtle physical transformation of Amanda Root (Anne Elliot) is incredible. Having recently seen the new PBS/Masterpiece Theater version (didn't like the casting on that one), I think that the only place that it excelled over this version was in making the relationship between Mrs. Clay and cousin Elliot clearer--that the cousin wanted not only to marry Anne so he could inherit the estate, but to also have Mrs. Clay as his mistress on the side to prevent her from marrying Sir Walter Elliot and possibly producing a male heir to beat him out of the property. That flaw was probably due to some footage ending up on the cutting room floor. Overall, however, this earlier version is vastly superior and may be my favorite adaptation of all the Austen novels to date.
Rating: - I am persuaded...
Let me state up front that I have never read Jane Austen's novels but I've watched almost every version of her novels put to film. I was confused in places when I watched for the first time this 1995 version of Persuasion with Ciaran Hinds and Amanda Root, but a second viewing clarified -- and I've watched and loved it many times since (however, I've mused that this version would have been even better had Andrew Davies written the screenplay). I love to watch the subtle play of emotions on the characters' faces, which reveal the thoughts and feelings people of that era would never utter aloud. I was so looking forward to watching Rupert Penry Jones' Captain Wentworth in the new rendition of Persuasion because I loved him in his small but memorable role in the excellent film, Charlotte Gray. But I was disappointed in the entire production, especially in the casting of plain Sally Hawkins. I would never for a moment believe that Penry Jones would be attracted to, never mind pine for, her. I was also disappointed in Penry Jones' rather wooden performance (though I think he had the deck stacked against him by the screenplay and the way that film was shot). I found the final scene of Hawkins running through the streets ridiculous and her way-too-long-lead-up-to-a-kiss with Wentworth contrived. What most disturbed me about the new film and the other new film versions of the Austen novels released this season (Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey, although I thought Northanger Abbey the best of the three; I haven't seen Sense and Sensibility or Emma yet) is that everything feels forced -- the action is too fast and "choppy." Sally Hawkins is plopped onto the back of the carriage like a sack of potatoes, versus the subtle caress of Ciaran Hinds' hands on Amanda Root's waist as he helps her into the carriage, followed by the embarrassed expression on her face as she looks back at him and as he turns away to hide the caring his action revealed. Time and time again in this 1995 version, you can see the subtle emotions on the characters' faces because the camera lingers appropriately. This is only one of countless moments of genuine feeling that is totally lacking in the new version. Is it that we're losing in our increasingly fast-paced results-oriented world -- reflected in many current films -- the ability to let life and feeling unfold according to its own natural rhythms? I was not persuaded that the characters in the new version were real at all. Thank goodness I have my wonderful 1995 version to watch again and again.
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