|
|
Article: `Emma': Truly Clueless
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- August 9, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
|
THERE MAY be no way of stopping the Janeheads -- those
college-educated, well-behaved Austen fans who queued up in dutiful
droves (and without incident) for "Persuasion" and "Sense and
Sensibility." But this time, there's an Austen movie they -- and
everyone else -- should unequivocably forgo. "Emma," which stars
Gwyneth Paltrow as the central matchmaker manque, is a washout, a
misbegotten blandification of the book.
Austen's classic novel, a comical, word-twirling delight,
clearly needed to be streamlined. Movies, after all, have an
unspoken obligation to entertain the audience at a fast pace. But in
his efforts to cut this multilayered story down to size,
writer-director Douglas ...