Product Description

This delightfully fun and lighthearted comedy is based on the story that inspired the hit movie CLUELESS! Dazzling Gwyneth Paltrow (SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS) shines as EMMA, a mischievous young beauty who sets up her single friends. Funny thing is ... she's not very good at it! So when Emma tries to find a man for Harriet (Toni Collette -- THE SIXTH SENSE, ABOUT A BOY), she makes a hilariously tangled mess of everyone's lives. You'll enjoy all the comic confusion ... until Emma herself falls in love, finally freeing everyone from her outrageously misguided attempts at matchmaking.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #448 in DVD
• Released on: 1999-01-05
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 121 minutes

Amazon.com
Most people didn't mind Gwyneth Paltrow's English accent in this charming, 1996 adaptation of Jane Austen's novel (which also inspired Clueless). But even if it doesn't sound quite right to you, there are plenty of authentic and wonderful Brit thespians in this film by screenwriter-turned-director Douglas McGrath (co-author of Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway), including Juliet Stevenson (Truly Madly Deeply), Alan Cumming (Buddy), Phyllida Law (Much Ado About Nothing), Ewan McGregor (the Scots star of Trainspotting), and Sophie Thompson, outstanding and finally heartbreaking as the chattering Miss Bates. Paltrow plays Austen's benign busybody, Emma Woodhouse--so busy trying to arrange the lives of others that she is sidestepping her own. McGrath brings a kind of pretty and light touch to the production, his best move the wise delegation of creative authority to the actors themselves. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Simply adorable
Gwyneth Paltrow takes on the Austenian role with all the elegance anyone could possibly bring. She and the rest of the cast are all perfect in a true romantic comedy with all of the Jane Austen-ness for which anyone could possibly ask. It's absolutely darling.

Its familiarity could be forgiven if Paltrow were half as interesting as she should have been...
Okay, don't hate me for this, but I came to a revelation while watching `Emma' the other night. Are you ready for this? Please, don't chastise me for this because I'm sure if you think about it you'll agree. Okay, here it goes...

I don't really understand why Jane Austen is so popular when each and every one of her stories seems to be the same story with different names.

Okay, I've said it, and I'm sure the hate mail will come pouring in now, but it had to be said. I know that some of you have seen this too, I mean, you'd really have to be blinded by your love of the period goddess to have not see it. Yes, her stories are touching and for any lover of the genre, films like `Sense and Sensibility' and `Pride and Prejudice' are really top notch entertainment (I love both those films by the way, so don't take this little revelation as an `I hate Jane Austen' tirade, for it is not), but one must realize that there is really little difference between the two stories.

Girl loves boy who loves another girl. A different boy loves the first girl but she is put off by him. When the boy the girl loves finally loves her she realizes that she loves the boy she was put off by but he is now in love with another girl. Eventually they realize they are meant for one another and the ending is, of course, very happy.

That said, `Emma' is sweet and charming in its own right, but it pales in comparison to the previous Austen juggernauts (I love Paltrow, but she is no Winslet and she can't manage to muster up the charm Knightley brought to her performance). The plot, while familiar, is not really the issue here. I think the biggest issue is Paltrow. Now I will not say that it was her accent, because it wasn't. I actually thought she pulled that off quite nicely. The problem was that she wasn't very entertaining. I found her rather boorish and uninteresting. I expected her to be emotionally investing (as was the always stellar Winslet) or perky and excitable (as was Knightley). Instead she was just barely there and really was overshadowed by nearly everyone else on the screen.

It was exciting to see Toni Collette is a softer role. She is truly a wonderful actress and played her part beautifully.

In the end I just can't see a real reason to entertain this film unless you are a devoted Jane Austen fan. If you are merely a fan of the genre then select some of her other work (or some other work period) since this is not the cream of the crop. Its familiarity is only the underlying foundation for my displeasure. It is the lack of spontaneity and the lack of overall excitement that makes `Emma' a dull girl.

Gwyneth Paltrow IS Emma
The role of Emma is played perfectly by Gweneth Paltrow. She's delightful as the failed matchmaker of Austen's story, wading through social decorum of ill fated as well as perfectly-matches romances. The rest of the cast shines as well, particularly the role of Mrs. Elton who, among other things, recognizes a "shocking lack of satin."

Wonderful settings and costumes, this is a version I could watch again and again. Recommended for all Austen fans.