Death Comes to Pemberley (2013)

Wonderful character development!

Brilliant and touching

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

To begin, I enjoyed this miniseries. The setting was incredible, it was shot wonderfully, and I'm a fan of a lot of the cast members. However, it's very clear that this takes place only at the shallowest level of the Pride&Prejudice world. The characters share the same names and relationships (for the most part), but there were scenes that were so out of character that it jars you out of the action for a moment. For instance, Georgina collapsing to the floor sobbing in front of servants is just too far from believable, especially considering the cause of her tears. (She's upset, yes- but upset enough to ignore all of the manners and excessively uptight social restrictions she grew up with? Hardly.) Elizabeth's wit peeked through at a few points, but overall she was far too passive for the character- she was afraid to contradict Darcy, which goes directly against a pretty large portion of their relationship in the novel. He also reverted back to the bullheaded character he was when the two first met, which erased a lot of characterization and also became a little confusing when the character jumped around from being open to Elizabeth and ignoring her. Jenna Coleman was excellent, and while her self-awareness was a departure from the book it was one that I loved. The secondary characters introduced for the mystery (namely Will and his family) were interesting and played well. I do wish there had been less anachronisms in the trial, but it could have been far worse and somewhat fit Henry's characterization as a man ahead of his time. Overall, a 7/10 and a fun watch once you separate it a bit from the novel it draws its characters from.

I really wanted to like this. I loved the original book by Jane Austen but was intrigued by the idea of a twist in the "happily ever after" ending.A great spoof could have been made, something like Monty Python and the Holy Grail for the Georgian era. Or it could have been a very genteel black comedy like Kind Hearts and Coronets or Arsenic and Old Lace. They could have played it straight and have Lizzie as Miss Marple...But instead we get a slow, turgid, lifeless, incoherent story that takes nearly an hour before anything happens. And by the time it does, you just don't care...

This sequel to "Pride and Prejudice" is of the same caliber as the one that tried to follow up on "Gone With The Wind". How did Lizzy become so ugly and so old? When did she lose all her charm? And there was absolutely no chemistry whatsoever between her and dear Darcy. It seemed they could hardly look at each other. What happened to that wonderful special love they had in the original? If Darcy is so rich, why Lizzy and Georgiana only had 1 cheap dress each? Both girls wore the same frumpy dress every day for weeks on end. In fact, everyone in the show only had one outfit for the entire show. Even though aristocrats in that era strove to look sharp and spiffy, yet, the overcoats of all the men in this show were all crumpled. It made the whole show looked like a low budget production. Of course, it had to be a "murder mystery" instead of a romance because murder is the vogue right now. What's next? Murder in Emma and Knightly's home? Poor Jane Austen! She must be turning over in her grave!

I had anticipated this series coming to American television, given the fine productions of Jane Austin's novels that have appeared over the years. While it is an imaginative storyline, it is one of the most boring "mysteries" ever presented on "Masterpiece Mysteries." The cast is outstanding, as are the costumes and settings. Those have become a given in recent years with such period pieces. However, the story takes forever to get organized, with people you really don't care for very much. I get the feeling that the producers had so much invested in the backgrounds, with the costumes and settings, that they felt it had to be a longer series. It didn't. This would have worked much, much better as an hour and a half, or maybe two hour, production. Instead, it became a tedious piece of television. The cast deserved better.