Death Comes to Pemberley (2013)

Such a frustrating disappointment

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

Just finished watching this. I wanted to stop after the first episode, but the murder mystery lover in me forced me to watch all three. After reading these reviews, I'm happy to see that I'm not alone in hating the casting of Elizabeth Darcy. I'm sorry, I've seen this actress in "Bletchley Circle" and thought nothing negative of her, but as Elizabeth, OMG, she was horrible in so many ways: her plain, homely looks; her dreary/miserable expressions; her same old dress. I was not a huge fan of "Pride and Prejudice" but even I knew that this was an atrocity. I don't recall ever ever ever watching a show thinking "Yuck!!" every time a main character appeared onscreen..unless perhaps they were the villain. I'm sorry AMM. I don't blame you, I blame everyone else, from writing to casting to director to makeup to costuming.

I love P&P. This is one of the funniest book I've ever read, and I enjoy very much crime stories. So I was quite exciting when my cousin lent me the DVD, but unfortunately it left me utterly disappointed. The plot is sometimes incoherent, with big shortcuts, but I was so exciting for the miniserie that I could have easily forgiven that. Overall, it was quite a good plot, the whole part with the ill brother and the bastard baby was very welcome. No, I mostly blame both the cast and some scenes. Like I said, what I consider the most in Jane Austen is her unrivaled sense of humour. Humour which was clearly missing here : no wits, no soul, no irony, nothing but cliché drama characters. I could not recognize my dear Lizzie, so lively, so witty, so unique. I certainly think Anna Maxwell Martin was the perfect example of a complete miscat. I usually like this actress, I really do, but here she was boring, passive, her face did not reflect anything but affliction - is that TRULY Elizabeth Bennett???? It left me so frustrated, just like I was watching another cliché female character rather than the unique Lizzie Bennett. There was also no chemistry between her and Darcy. Again, I have nothing against Matthew Rhys, but he should not have been here. He was plain, and, just like Anna, always had the same face expressions. And the whole story with his great-grand-father, which could explain why he was so reluctant at his love for Lizzie in the first place, was a nonsense to me. I don't think he needed any justifications for his first behaviour, that really was unnecessary. Anyway, I think I could have done with it. I am mostly angry at Lizzie's cast.I also like very much Austen's movies' XIX atmosphere, how people talk and express their feelings in a very codified way, this other language of the body, which is much more puritan than ours. I love how they fear their first kiss etc, as it leads us to such a different time and that I love to travel in time. But none of it here : they often kiss, there is even a sex scene etc - THAT could never belong to any Austen's novels. I am not saying that it is shameful to show that or anything, simply that I simply did not feel any Austen's spirit in it. Effusions or tears were not necessary to bring emotion to the watcher, and especially not in this context! Same for the colors used to film: everything is dark, gloomy. Yes, I know, this is a murder story, but still. Hercule Poirot's show manages to be very colourful and playful with dark stories and that is why it remains so unique.I think that is all. It lost this unique Austen's taste by trying to be more "average" rather than staying in this ironic and colourful tone, and so it became "just another crime show with the same characters of every crime shows". To be fair, it was quite good, but blank and without soul, and certainly not Austen's.

Had this pvr'd so didn't get to watch it until recently. The main characters were mis-cast. Rhys as Darcy just didn't work, but he would have made a great Wickham. Matthew Goode should have been cast as Darcy, and not as Wickham. And seriously, who would have thought to cast AMM as Lizzie? Her presence was paper-thin, and had difficulty carrying the role and the dialogue to make Lizzie spring to life and be the object of Darcy's adoration. And by the end of even the first episode, I was seriously tired of seeing her in the same, ugly blue dress. I was beginning to think it was the only one she owned until they came up with the same dress in episode two, but this time in green. And that little bolero jacket, and the pickle-barrel bonnet was just too much for me. For a woman of means, after 6 years of being married to a wealthy man and representing the estate, you would think she had more than two daytime dresses, that she wore everywhere. Did she get them at the church jumble sale or the bottom of the missionary barrel? And Rebecca Font as Mrs. Bennett? Really??? That was just too painful to watch.

Let me just preface this by saying that I am a fan of both Anna Maxwell Martin and Matthew Rhys. Anna is a beautiful, wonderful actress. I've found her enjoyable in Bleak House (2005) and The Bletchley Circle. Matthew is a talented, insanely attractive Welshman with a beautiful, robust singing voice (as evidenced in the Mystery of Edwin Drood). They are both very skilled at what they do when they are in their element.Regency England is NOT their element.There are a lot of problems with Death Comes to Pemberly. Some I can't even put my finger on.The biggest problem is that Anna and Matthew don't feel like Elizabeth and Darcy. We'll start with Matthew - he's too high-strung for this part. As the conflicted John Jasper, he works. As the Upright and dignified (but still slightly awkward) Darcy - No. He's handsome, but in a very unconventional way, which does not at all fit with tall, dark and striking Darcy. He swings about quite a lot which, apart from being improper for the time period, is simply not a way one would describe Darcy as moving.Watching Anna in this was not unlike watching her performance in the Bletchley Circle or Bleak House - the parts she plays in both of the aforementioned are women who have been through trials. That's what Anna Maxwell Martin does. But Elizabeth has spent most of her life in comfort without any greater trial than an insufferable mother and a sister running off and eloping. She shouldn't look this tired. The past six years of her life has been spent living in her dream home with her loving (filthy rich) husband. And then there's the way SHE moves in the part. Setting aside the manner in which they have her speaking, there's her body language. The way she walks and holds herself is quite simply NOT ON for the Regency. At one point she faces a pillar and leans against it with one arm over her head and her other hand ON HER HIP. It's a very masculine post and not at all appropriate for a well bred woman of the era. At another point (when she is speaking with Lady Catherine no less) she is sitting at a table, leaning forward (once again) with her hand on her waist. I half expected her to cross her legs. To top this all off, when she walks away from Lady Catherine, she swings her hips.Now let's consider Georgiana and the way she falls - sobbing - to HER KNEES in full view of the SERVANTS. This is another unladylike thing for a woman as demure and well-brought-up as Georgiana. Also it seemed like an overreaction considering the situation. Maybe she would react like that if she'd, say, just received news that her brother had died.We see Lydia (who at least was well cast with Jenna Coleman) wearing QUITE a lot of scarlet. While I'm sure well all amuse ourselves imagining her pushing boundaries without a though for convention, wearing scarlet dresses in that time period is a bit much, even for her.The story seems to waffle quite a bit as far as the "true character" of Wickham goes. Also, Lydia is way too self aware. Then of course we have magistrates talking about "tampering with evidence" and completely convoluted subplots concerning Darcy's Great-grandfather nearly losing Pemberly (?), Making Col. Fitzwilliam judgmental and of poor character (he's the frickin' nicest guy!) and Mrs. Young being Wickhams half-sister? What in the name of all that's holy?!Basically, what this all boils down to is that this is an adaptation of... well fanfiction. Published fanfiction by a well respected author, but fanfic nonetheless. And fanfiction (especially of the Mystery genre) get's way to convoluted, way too fast.