Bovie Movie

Jane Austen’s perennially popular story of the game of love among the British upper classes returns to the screen in this polished film adaptation. The Bennetts (Brenda Blethyn and Donald Sutherland) are the parents of five daughters near the close of the 18th century. Comfortable within their means but well short of rich, Mr. and Mrs. Bennett are looking for suitable husbands for their girls, and they are encouraged to learn that an eligible young bachelor from a wealthy family, Charles Bingley (Simon Woods), has moved into a nearby estate. Eager to see if a match can be made, the Bennetts bring their daughters Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) and Jane (Rosamund Pike) to a ball thrown by their new neighbor to see if sparks will fly. Jane seems to like Charles, and he appears to feel the same, but Elizabeth takes an immediate dislike to Darcy (Matthew MacFadyen), Charles’ egocentric best friend. While Elizabeth is infatuated with military man Lt. Wickham (Rupert Friend) and finds herself courted by William Collins (Tom Hollander), a well-meaning but drab man of the cloth, fate causes Elizabeth and Darcy to frequently cross paths, and while they don’t care for one another, they can’t stop thinking about each other, either. Pride & Prejudice also stars Jena Malone, Judi Dench, and Penelope Wilton.

This nutty British comedy observes with jet black humor the myriad of outrageous calamities that befall an eccentric English clan with more than a few skeletons in its closets, when its patriarch dies an unexpected death. Soon, every complication imaginable - including the wrong corpse in the coffin, the accidental consumption of hallucinogenic drugs and the disclosure of the deceased’s closeted homosexuality - befall the grief-stricken mourners. The funeral commences at the family estate, with the arrival of younger son Daniel (Matthew MacFayden), a Manhattanite who has long felt uncomfortable around his cocky, licentious novelist brother Robert (Rupert Graves) - and thus dreads seeing him. Meanwhile, Daniel is also struggling to adhere to promises he’s made to his wife (Keely Hawes). Also arriving at the house are cousin Martha (Daisy Donovan) and her intended, Simon (Alan Tudyk), who embarrasses just about everybody, including himself, by accidentally consuming a strange drug that imparts him with wild delusions and gives him an uncontrollable penchant for exhibitionism. But the event that truly turns the family members onto their ears is the arrival of a dwarf (Peter Dinklage) who speaks openly of the patriarch’s secret passions, which included dressing up in a kinky gladiator outfit and watching young men skinny-dip. Frank Oz (In and Out, Bowfinger) helms; Dean Craig authored the script.