Advanced Search Beta »
Basic Search Fields
Sense and Sensibility: Season 1
  • Network: BBC
  • Series Premiere Date: Jan 1, 2008
  • Season #: 1
Metascore
79 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
view
per page
  1. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Robert Bianco
    100
    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.
  2. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Mary McNamara
    90
    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.
  3. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Matt Roush
    90
    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.
  4. Orlando Sentinel
    Reviewed by: Hal Boedeker
    80
    Expert casting deepens this version. Without stars as these youthful Dashwood sisters, the men are on equal footing.
  5. Variety
    Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    80
    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.
  6. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Laurence Vittes
    80
    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.
  7. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: John Leonard
    70
    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.
  8. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Maureen Ryan
    70
    This well-intentioned Sense gets the job done.
  9. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Ginia Bellafante
    70
    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.
  10. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Matthew Gilbert
    70
    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.
  11. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    Reviewed by: Jim Heinrich
    70
    The movie--as Jane Austen might have described it--is an amiable entertainment.
prev next
Page:
  • 1

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
tbd

No user score yet- Awaiting 1 more rating

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. MargieJ.
    5
    Lacks subtle characterization of Ang lee version. We really didn't need this one.
  2. KimB.
    9
    Loved it - wonderfully acted.
See all user reviews »