Critic Reviews
| 100 |
USA Today Robert Bianco
This two-part production expands and opens the story without diminishing the charm or appeal of Austen's original or pushing it past her socially constrained boundaries. |
| 90 |
Los Angeles Times Mary McNamara
This Sense and Sensibility is truer not only to Austen's narrative, it more successfully captures the quiet precision of her singular mind--she was the master of finding poetry in domestic detail, and for that, the small screen is much better suited than the large. |
| 90 |
TV Guide Matt Roush
It lacks the star power (Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet) of Ang Lee's 1995 Oscar winner. But Austen's characters are so enduring and endearing in their virtues, vanities and passionate follies that they don't require movie stars to bring them to life. |
| 80 |
Hollywood Reporter Laurence Vittes
The production is handsome in the dreamy BBC style, and writer Andrew Davies has done his usual efficient distillation job, including adding a few imaginative touches involving galloping horses and nubile young bodies that would have surprised Austen. |
| 80 |
Variety Brian Lowry
Austen's simple tales of love -- deferred, nearly derailed but eventually and inevitably triumphant -- hold up extremely well, and this latest "Sense & Sensibility" has done a splendid job casting its various roles, despite an inevitable wattage deficit compared with the most recent theatrical version. |
| 80 |
Orlando Sentinel Hal Boedeker
Expert casting deepens this version. Without stars as these youthful Dashwood sisters, the men are on equal footing. |
| 70 |
Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert
It never quite dazzles, even as it impresses, and it misses some of Austen's ironic turns. But this is certainly a worthy adaptation, summoning all that is enduring about Austen. |
| 70 |
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Jim Heinrich
The movie--as Jane Austen might have described it--is an amiable entertainment. |
| 70 |
The New York Times Ginia Bellafante
We surely didn’t need another filmed version of Austen’s first published novel--not after Ang Lee’s sublime adaptation of “Sense and Sensibility” 13 years ago--but we are content enough to have this one. |
| 70 |
New York Magazine John Leonard
Nothing shameful here, but nothing either to prize it above Ang Lee’s marvelous 1995 version. This new Sense is, in fact, somewhat of a drag. |
| 70 |
Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan
This well-intentioned Sense gets the job done. |
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