Scents and Sensibility

Both female leads were excellent in their roles and for a modern twist on an old classic I'd give 9/10 (though I'd rate the whole movie a 6/10). Williams fabulously portrayed the older sister in this movie - very credible depiction of a sensible sibling who tries hard to make everything work. Similarly, Sokoloff managed to pull off a very tough job of making a romance obsessed character likable.

I thought the fall from wealth to the working class was well done. That said, in both Austen's book and this work, the family hardly experiences complete loss nor does the foray into say "working class" or "middle class" really depict the toughness of life for the overwhelming majority of the world.

Definitely appreciated a clean movie (no unnecessary violence, obscenity, vulgarity, etc.)

I'd rate the entire movie middle-of-the-road though (despite the excellent acting of the 2 leads) for a few reasons. First, most of the side characters seemed one-dimensional and over-the-top. Second, though I greatly appreciated the focus on family ties and delving into the foundations of relationships I don't know exactly what the take-away message is from either Austen's book or this movie. Sure, note that we could take either an emotional or sensible approach to finding a life mate. But beyond that what is the main message? Even if you develop really shallow relationships and don't try to understand why, it might just all work out in the next connection? Put your effort on re-claiming lost prestige and status? That might be too harsh for die hard fans of Austen but to me the message of a movie is what carries most weight and I couldn't quite decipher what that message was.

When I saw this movie listed on Neflix and saw who all was in the cast I had great hopes for this movie. The lovely Marla Sokoloff, the well-seasoned actress Ashley Williams, and the likable Nick Zano being in the movie pushed me to set aside time from my busy day and check this movie out. What a disappointment it turned out to be. The acting was flat. But, you can't blame the cast. The writing was quite uninspired and the only thing that would have saved this movie is if the cast was allowed to have free reign to ad lib their scenes. There is no doubt in my mind that they could have come up with better material than was presented in this drab movie. Did the Director even read through the script before taking on this project? No one in their right mind could've thought that the screenplay could be salvaged without a major over-haul. The title should have been "Keep on movin' folks, nothing to see here." I wish I'd been warned first before I took a chance on this disaster. My deepest sympathies to the cast. I hope your careers did not take a too big of hit for being associated with this perfectly forgettable screenplay.

Even if the film is predictable and nothing to do with JA¨s book, it has its moments of fun. What I found most distracting in the movie is that Ashley Williams wears a necklace with an A THE WHOLE MOVIE, when her character¨s name starts with an E. The dialogues are unbelievable put in the mouth of grown ups, which by the way, behave like teen agers.

Anything resembling Jane Austen was purely coincidental. This is really a goody-two-shoes Hallmark knock off. The characters were not completely or even partially developed. The costumes were a joke. The music was annoying.

The acting is at an atrocious high school play level.

This film is an extremely drab and slow moving version and only a hint of the real story peeks through.

Even if you don't know the original story, this over simplistic script

blatantly telegraphs the outcome.

I gave it 2 stars because the only interesting aspect is the beautiful Utah outdoor scenery,

otherwise this is a waste of 89 minutes of your life.

A nice, clean movie. It's very loosely based on Jane Austin's novel. But, since it takes place in 21st century America, changes had to be made. After all, out society doesn't have such misogynist inheritance laws. And sexism no longer works for why these sisters can't get high-paying jobs. So, in this version, they lose their father to prison instead of death. Their wealth goes to expensive appeals and reimbursing victims, instead of a half-brother. And the name Dashwood has been blackballed from every notable business. So, Elinor enters a bit of a Cinderella story, as a janitor working for a boss who looks down in her. And Marianne has some growing up to do, learning to live without luxury and to get a job.

It's not a perfect movie. It has a few cheesy moments. I think the sisters' problem might have been solved if they just legally changed their surnames. Elinor believes the word of a thief, and Marianne foolishly gives a cad a chance to interfere with her romance. But it's still an enjoyable movie, worth watching at least once. I've actually watched it three times now.