Pride & Prejudice

It must have been daunting to bring Jane Austen's period drama to the big screen for the first time in 65 years. Not only is the 1940 Laurence Olivier/Greer Garson version seen as a classic, but it was also followed by a number of revered TV adaptations - notably the 1995 BBC production starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. So it's to his credit that debut director Joe Wright does such a beautiful job with his gutsy and less idealised interpretation. Focusing on wit and intellect rather than heaving bosoms, he presents his Regency heroine Elizabeth Bennet (Keira Knightley) as a waspish tomboy, able to run rings around sullen bachelor Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen) with her spirited ripostes. Though mournful Macfadyen can't match Firth's scorching magnetism, Knightley is a memorable leading lady, as delightful to watch as her well-shot surroundings. The support cast is strong, too, with Brenda Blethyn and Donald Sutherland particularly exceptional as Lizzie's marriage-obsessed mother and doting father.