First Hit: This version of the Jane Ashton tale, isn’t very funny, somewhat long at over two hours, and, at times, oddly entertaining.
I’m not a big fan of period pieces, and this one spends a lot of time showing us how the class structure and social hierarchy in England produced rude behavior.
The rude behavior is characterized by having the people guessing what others think and then responding without knowing what they really think. The culmination of this lack of communication is when Emma Woodhouse (Anya Taylor-Joy) and George Knightley (Johnny Flynn) are under a tree, having extreme difficulty telling each other how they feel about each other.
The innuendos, the backhanded slights, and the occasional direct put-downs throughout this story were, on occasion, amusing. Still, mostly they struck me as arrogant attacks on people who had less social standing than others.
Emma is a rich girl in her early twenties living in a large house on an estate in England. She lives there with her father, Mr. Woodhouse (Bill Nighy). It is near a small town, and because of her wealth, she’s looked up to by everyone in the village. When Emma walks into a store, everyone bows or curtsies. She hires friendships and people to spend time with her; Harriet Smith (Mia Goth) is one such person.
We watch Emma try to influence and control who gets engaged to whom, including Harriet. Emma is devoted to her father and has no intention of ever marrying. Emma is also forever being prodded and challenged by Knightly, her neighbor.
Knightley lives in a vast empty estate by himself. Interior shots of the house show most of the furniture covered up.
Although I didn’t like the character, Taylor-Joy was good as the arrogant Emma. Nighy was appropriately clueless as Emma’s father. Flynn did a terrific job of being the rich neighbor who suddenly harbored deeper feelings for Emma. Goth was sublime. She portrayed innocence and faith that Emma was looking out for her in a beautiful way. Eleanor Catton wrote this screenplay, that to me, was way to elongated. Autumn de Wilde directed this movie. It was at least 40 minutes too long and uninspired.
Overall: Despite the brief moments of hilarity, it was painfully long and contrived.