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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Mansfield Park
Miramax Films
MPAA RATING: PG-13 for brief violent images, sexual content and drug use
Starring
Frances O'Connor,
Jonny Lee Miller,
Victoria Hamilton,
Embeth Davidtz,
Alessandro Nivola,
Hugh Bonneville,
Sophia Myles,
and
James Purefoy
Rozema's progressive interpretation of Jane Austen's novel finds Fanny Price (O'Connor) as a poor relation who at the age of 12 is "rescued" to begin a life in Mansfield Park, the estate of her aunt's husband. Fanny's beauty and bold intelligence become apparent as she attracts suitors and becomes troubled by the class system and the fact that slavery was the source of much of the family's wealth.
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Patricia Rozema
Jane Austen (novel)
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Patricia Rozema
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: July 18, 2000
Video: July 18, 2000
Theatrical: November 17, 1999
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
110 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
UK |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
This is an uncommonly intelligent film, smart and amusing too, and anyone who thinks it is not faithful to Austen doesn't know the author but only her plots.
100
San Francisco Chronicle
Peter Stack
Intelligence and beauty -- and teasing romance -- shape Mansfield Park into a gorgeous, enchanting experience.
91
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Paula Nechak
Daring, gorgeous.
90
TNT RoughCut
Sarah Raskin
The only fault I found was a lengthy build to the story's political climax (there's a subplot about slavery), after which the film quickly seams up its unravelings and ends.
90
Newsweek
David Ansen
Rozema's handling of the entangled amours and social gamesmanship at Mansfield Park is delightful and the open-minded moviegoer will have a hard time resisting this stylish and stirring movie.
88
Charlotte Observer
Lawrence Toppman
A love story more involved than I can easily explain.
88
Baltimore Sun
Chris Kaltenbach
A thoughtful, engaging film.
83
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
The Australian actress Frances O'Connor is a true find. She's as beautiful as the young Barbara Hershey, with a stare that's pensive yet playful, and she puts us in touch with the quiet battle of emotions in Fanny.
83
Portland Oregonian
Diana Abu-Jaber
Piquant, playful, and, in many ways, just as appealing as blockbusters such as "Pride and Prejudice."
80
Washington Post
Stephen Hunter
It isn't Austen, but it's delicious fun.
80
The New York Times
Stephen Holden
Ms. Rozema has made a film whose satiric bite is sharper than that of the usual high-toned romantic costume drama.
80
Time
Richard Schickel
Well acted, and it achieves a strong, smart, engaging life of its own.
75
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
Why should we keep seeing Austen fresh, through our own, modern eyes? Because she's a writer who has never really left our field of vision. And, as this new Mansfield Park proves again, she never will.
75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Carrie Rickey
Enormously satisfying.
75
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
Loses much of the book's complexity but gains dramatic power from a cleverly streamlined screenplay... and several persuasive performances. No previous movie has made Austen's vision seem so vivid and alive for contemporary times.
75
New York Daily News
Jami Bernard
O'Connor plays Fanny with an appealingly direct, unflinching gaze.
75
Boston Globe
Jay Carr
Stylish and arrives at a satisfying cumulative weight, even if it isn't Austen pure.
75
Miami Herald
Curtis Morgan
The latest and loosest -- in the saucy sense of the word as well -- adaptation of (Austen's) sly comedies of uppercrust manners.
75
San Francisco Examiner
Walter Addiego
What's on the screen may not be a letter-perfect Mansfield Park, but something true to its spirit.
70
LA Weekly
Hazel-Dawn Dumpert
Rozema seems determined to defrill the Austen trend and charge it with a fiercer sort of femininity.
70
Dallas Observer
Andy Klein
O'Connor as Fanny is irresistibly appealing.
70
Film.com
Ernest Hardy
Although Mansfield Park is an enjoyable film, you can't help but wish that it were as brave, feisty and unconventional as it keeps telling us its heroine is.
70
Film.com
Robert Horton
Quick and funny, and a refreshing break from period-film stuffiness.
62
Mr. Showbiz
Kevin Maynard
"Run mad whenever you choose, but do not faint," Austen wrote in her early journals. Despite its brazen politics, Mansfield Park never goes giddily amok as promised.
60
TV Guide
Ken Fox
An engaging bit of entertainment.
60
Chicago Reader
Ronnie Scheib
There's something more than a little perverse about taking one of the most timid, self-effacing heroines in English literature and turning her into a paragon of modern free-spirited womanhood.
60
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
It's an interesting take, and it always holds our interest, but it's finally too ham-fisted to be a completely winning one.
50
Village Voice
Justine Elias
In trying so hard to entertain, ends up sabotaging itself.
50
Variety
Derek Elley
But there's little sense of a longer dramatic arc stretching across the characters: Rozema can't seem to hold a single tone for more than a few minutes, and she has too many other axes to grind besides just getting the story up on the screen.
50
USA Today
Andy Seiler
Not since Demi Moore lived happily ever after in "The Scarlet Letter" has a filmmaker felt so free to fudge a famous plot.
40
Austin Chronicle
Marjorie Baumgarten
A confusing jumble of historical drama and modern social essay that only serves to cloud the whole field of Jane Austen studies.
 The average user rating for this movie is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 8 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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