Pride & Prejudice (2005)

Our first impressions can be stubborn things, and sometimes they're the very walls standing between us and happiness. Literary adaptations don't get much better than Joe Wright's 2005 version of Jane Austen's "Pride & Prejudice." The key word is adaptation, because Wright and gifted screenwriter Deborah Moggach take liberties with Austen's classic that purists may object to, but their artistic choices are fully justified and beautifully executed. The film presents a more rural, earthy England, set in the late 1790s rather than the Regency era many associate with Austen, where Elizabeth Bennet (Keira Knightley) is one of five sisters ready for marriage, with a frantic mother (Brenda Blethyn) desperate to see her daughters matched with the richest husbands available. Elizabeth is strong-willed and outspoken, but her head, not to mention her pride and prejudice, leads her heart astray when she meets the wealthy Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen), whose own reserve and sense of propriety, not to mention his pride and prejudice, keep him from revealing his feelings for her. They're clearly meant for each other, and Knightley's Oscar-nominated performance lights up the screen - young enough to be playfully impertinent, yet wise beyond her years. The result is yet another timeless take on Austen's beloved romance, easily on par with the treasured 1995 BBC miniseries that has been embraced by millions. Tastes will differ on which version deserves to be called definitive, but with a stellar supporting cast that includes Judi Dench, Donald Sutherland, Rosamund Pike and Tom Hollander, this impeccable production achieves a perfection all its own.