Persuasion

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Angelique v Is it possible to give it a 1/2 star, or no star? This movie was terrible. One good thing that may come out of it is that more people will be encouraged to pick up the book and read it and realize how much better it is than this "adaptation" of the book. Like Meghan Markle's Netflix Special, some may want to watch it in disbelief that it is "that bad.". Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 08/28/25 Full Review Áine H Unbearable to anyone who appreciates the book. A fundamental misunderstanding of the narrative tension that makes the original so compelling. The makers obviously had no intention of showcasing what the book does well, but instead needed some story to shove all the things they thought the public liked about period dramas. My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined. Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 08/21/25 Full Review Mona B Ich habe zuerst den Film (öfters) gesehen und dann das Buch gelesen. Und ich muss sagen, dass ich den Film liebe! Ich weis nicht, was immer diese Kritiken sollen, dass etwas nicht exakt wie das Original ist. Wenn es gut gemacht ist, finde ich, kann man Geschichten auch anpassen. Ich liebe die Mischung der Tragik der Geschichte und dem Witz. Ich finde auch die Idee super, dass Anne die 4. Wand durchbricht. Viele Momente, in denen sie einem direkt anspricht, bringen mich jedes mal zum lachen oder mitfühlen. Ich liebe auch Dakota Johnson als Anne Elliot. Für mich die perfekte Besetzung. Jeder hat seine eigene Meinung aber schlechte Kritiken, kann ich einfach nicht nachvollziehen. Man kann auch immer noch Filme und Bücher, auf deren Geschichte die Filme beruhen, als jeweiliges gutes Individuum betrachten und genießen. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/24/25 Full Review Hex x It was a good movie, the beginning was a little rocky, a bit too modern for my tastes at points, some awkward moments, but it did slowly sink into itself and come to fruition. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 07/22/25 Full Review Gary B I am an avid classics reader, so when I first started watching, I thought I was going to find the monologue bland. Instead after about the first 20 minutes I found myself fascinated by it. It gave me an insight into the characaters and feelings I had not seen before. For example, when they are on the beach and re-establish "frienship", her words cut to the heart....That things were worse. They were no longer exes, but then friends. This may not have been the classic Jane Austen, but I loved it. I would definitely watch it again. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/14/25 Full Review Katherine N I read the criticism and I get this an unconventional adaptation of Jane Austen’s story. But isn’t this the point? It can’t be another standard run through of the story because there are already 4 adaptations on Amazon. Right so my opinion on the positives. The scenes, outfits cinema graphics lovely! On to the actors Dakota wouldn’t have been my choice given there are so many prime British actresses but she does do a good job of playing Anne and the accent is convincing. Cosmo, Henry and Richard E Grant also do a good job. Critics have panned cosmos portrayal as wooden and stiff but I think he’s done an honest job of playing Wentworth and my god he’s good looking. How did I not see him whilst I was living in Leyton in 2012??? Sigh. Anyway enough with the positives here are the negatives. I’ve watched the 1995 adaptation and I have to reward this film with 2-3 points only. This is because this film has gutted the original jane Austen book which had plot lines all tied up nicely and used beautiful language. Instead of harnessing the strengths of the original script Cracknell has deviated to such an extent that the plot line has changed to the point that it’s unbelievable/ odd and has damaged the fabric of the story itself making it nonsensical. Changes have been made for the sake of being made. We lose threads of the story itself and it’s replaced by unecessary summaries and poorly written and immature script writing, which don’t enhance the storyline they serve to divert treating the audience that they are too dumb to understand Jane Austen’s work. Example 1: In the book Henrietta explains to a startled Wentworth that Anne rejected a proposal from her brother and thats why he married mary. In the film the audience is given a substituted scene where Anne gets drunk and awkwardly states at she rejected her brother in law's proposal to a full table of guests including mary her brother in law's parents and Wentworth?? What - this never happened in Georgian society and it feels like a badly put together scene you would find during an episode of Eastenders or Corrie! Example 2: The 2022 film decides to introduce Hayter in the final scene, but in the book hayter was present from the start. He showed an interest in Henrietta, often stopping by. Henrietta firstly interested in Wentworth making Hayter jealous so Wentworths attention is turned to Louisa. His presence in the book is important as he marries Henrietta so I have no idea why Cracknell would casually exclude him. Example 3: In the book Anne finds out from a widow what William Elliot’s intentions are with her and why he is in Bath; He intends to stop Anne’s father marrying Mrs Clay. In the book Anne finds out about his true nature through this widow that he’s deceitful and not to be trusted as he has withheld money from the widow putting her into poverty. This information is really imp[ortant as it stops Anne from taking an interest in William Elliot. However, in the 2022 film William Elliott tells Anne himself he’s in bath to stop the marriage and the widow doesn't make an appearence nor is her plight mentioned at all. This just doesn’t make any sense to the plot line - the point of the story is that Anne finds out he’s a bad apple through others and what incentive would William Elliott have for disclosing his true intentions when he is courting Anne???. In the 2022 film he marries Mrs Clay but again this makes no sense in Georgian society - the book more sensibly makes note that he takes her as his mistress not wife. Also in the 1995 adaptation Wentworth is less rigid more suave but arguably Cosmo is still better looking…swoon. Cosmo could have easily have done this but I think this was bad directing that he appears quite stiff. We also have other deviations with poor founded replacements - in the 1995 adaptation Anne twists her foot and gets a carriage ride home. In this carriage Anne and the audience gain important information that builds the plot. In the film it’s ignored and replaced by a scene she hugs her nephew. I personally think that Cracknell had made too many changes to the point that the film became non sensical. Replacing dialogue with scenes of scenary and wide angles just made this bad job of a film even worse and it was correctly panned. Had this 2022 adaptation stuck to the script and taken it would have packed more content into the film and retained the plot which was already perfect to begin with. If Cracknell's aim was to modernise the film then a better way to do this would have to taken the basic premise of the book and set it in modern day UK. For example, Wentworth could hve been someone who was born into a working class family, left school at 18 and joined the British navy. He could have returned from a tour of Afghanistan and at 30 years old was looking at settling down or taking a position overseas to work in the merchant shipping business. Anne could have been a young socialite from old money and was persuaded by her family to end the relationship. She could have ended up as a single woman in her early thirties working as a vet or a teacher. All I am saying is that there were many ways this film could have been modernised, which would have allowed alterations of the script to this magnitude to be more accepted. Instead Cracknell just went down the route of shooting in the same locations, same period but it doesnt work as society and behaviour was different in that period. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 07/16/25 Full Review Read all reviews

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