It's smart, heady stuff that only fails at times because it's perhaps too ambitious for its own good...
Mansfield Park (1999)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:66
Fresh:50
Rotten:16
Average Rating:6.9/10
Consensus: Solid performances, bold direction.
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: Fanny Price, a precociously intelligent young woman, is sent by her impoverished parents to live with her mother's wealthy sisters and family in order to benefit from the intellectual and social... Fanny Price, a precociously intelligent young woman, is sent by her impoverished parents to live with her mother's wealthy sisters and family in order to benefit from the intellectual and social education, as well as material comforts, that their status affords. Fanny, of native wit, budding writing talents and a late-blooming audacity, responds well to the new environment, despite being treated as a second-class citizen by her aunts, uncle, and cousins -- with the notable exception of cousin Edmund, with whom Fanny forms a fast and close bond, and which later blossoms into love. When the smooth con-artist brother and sister act of Henry and Mary Crawford arrive and attempt to infiltrate the Betram social circle with eyes on marital connections and thereby, inheritance, Henry begins to appreciate Fanny's understated charms, and determines that she is the woman for him. Her luster, however, is due in part to her unspoken love for Edmund, and she flatly rejects Henry's advances, which she also regards as insincere. This causes great dismay to her uncle, who subjects her to heavy interrogation and pressure to submit. In the end, Fanny cannot betray her heart, and chooses to return to the veritable slums where her family still resides by the docks of Portsmouth. It's up to Edmund to realize, for himself, his love for Fanny, and hopefully provide a happy ending to the proceedings. [More]
Starring: Frances O'Connor, Embeth Davidtz, Jonny Lee Miller, Alessandro Nivola
Starring: Frances O'Connor, Embeth Davidtz, Jonny Lee Miller, Alessandro Nivola, Harold Pinter, Lindsay Duncan, Sheila Gish, James Purefoy, Hugh Bonneville, Justine Waddell, Victoria Hamilton
Director: Patricia Rozema
Director: Patricia Rozema
Screenwriter: Patricia Rozema
Producer: Sarah Curtis
Composer: Lesley Barber
Reviews for Mansfield Park
While die-hard fans of Austen's works might not like the contemporary spin that Rozema has put on this latest adaption, most every other fan of period costume dramas will probably find it to their liking.
O'Connor makes a fetching film debut as the patient yet resolute heroine.
Rozema's movie ... in trying so hard to entertain, ends up sabotaging itself.
Overall, Rozema succeeds in balancing the plot's lighter elements and heavier undercurrents without compromising either.
Austen purists may gag, but director Patricia Rozema has managed to crack Mansfield Park, transforming Jane Austen's problematic novel into an engaging bit of entertainment.
Though it's never dull, this Mansfield Park has too much of its own agenda and too little of Austen's to completely succeed.
Despite its brazen politics, Mansfield Park never goes giddily amok as promised.
This is still Austen 100%, but it's Austen with an edge. Readers may protest. Viewers will rejoice.
Mansfield Park...is a confusing jumble of historical drama and modern social essay that only serves to cloud the whole field of Jane Austen studies.
This is perhaps not Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, but Jane Austen would have probably recognized most of it and would have been amused by the rest.
Mansfield Park is the cinematic equivalent of a nice walk in the park; nice and relaxing, a breath of fresh air.
This incarnation of Fanny may not have been what Austen had in mind, but she surely would have approved, for the injection of attitude and smarts makes Mansfield Park a much more wicked and irresistible social satire...
Bodices may not be ripped, but they are certainly loosened in this very liberal adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel.
It's alluring to see a costume drama that takes us inside the subtlest, most wrenching realities of money.
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