Entertainment

07:14 AM CST on Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Pride & Prejudice

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Starring Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Judi Dench, Donald Sutherland and Brenda Blethyn. Directed by Joe Wright. PG. 129 mins. $29.98.

AH, YOUTH: With so many beloved film versions of Jane Austen's novel out there (including the contemporary Bridget Jones's Diary ), why do it again? Director Joe Wright's persuasive answer is to conjure up the youth of the characters and the gritty day-to-day life of the Bennets – a family whose finances put them on the precarious edge of the society to which they are trying to cling.

FAMILY MATTERS: The unstoppable romance between Elizabeth and Darcy is still the heart of the tale. But this version, more than any in memory, comes off as a family film. Relationships between the siblings, particularly Keira Knightley's Elizabeth and Rosamund Pike's Jane, are touchingly close. Instead of Mrs. Bennet coming off as a silly woman, Brenda Blethyn plays her as a fierce life force in tune with how desperate things can get for her unmarried daughters. And Donald Sutherland's Mr. Bennet doesn't just tolerate his wife; he admires her.

OSCAR ALLURE: It's unlikely that Keira Knightley will win the Academy Award for best actress, but she's deserving of the nomination.

BEST EXTRA: "Jane Austen, Ahead of Her Time" gives a tantalizing glimpse at the unmarried woman who wrote so well about marriage.

BOTTOM LINE: Brings a classic back to the young and the young at heart.

Nancy Churnin