Review

A luscious adaptation of one of Jane Austen's better known novels. Thompson produced and wrote the adaptation, and then hired the masterful Taiwanese director Lee to helm -- together they have made as seemly a rendering of Austen as one is likely to see. Thompson and Winslet play the two Dashwood sisters who, legally unable to be the rightful heirs of their father's will, are forced out of their impressive estate (and "polite" society). Their dilemma, of course, is how to marry -- after all, in early 19th-century society, women without dowries were hard to pawn off. Hence, the story revolves around their conundrum as they pin their hopes on a handful of suitors. Though essentially a drama, Thompson's playful screenplay, in the hands of Lee, finds a great deal of good humor in Austen's story and makes the most of it. Awash with excellent performances, the film exhibits an economy of manners that would do Austen proud.