Read my review of Sense and Sensibility (the book).

There will be spoilers.

General thoughts

Emma Thompson, who plays Elinor, also wrote the screenplay for this adaptation. I didn’t know she was a screenwriter. Good for her!

Having now watched both screen adaptations, it seems clear the 2008 miniseries borrowed heavily from the changes made in the 1995 movie. Most of these benefited the story’s transition to screen and compatibility with modern audiences.

Emma Thompson is an excellent writer. More changes were made for this movie than the 2008 miniseries. Thompson opted to cut or combine some book scenes in order to pay closer attention to others, and to flesh out Edward and Margaret and other relationships.

Elinor’s grief at Marianne’s severe illness was a beautiful moment underscoring the reality that this story, at its heart, is about sisterhood first and everything else second. Tears.

Overall, this adaptation felt funnier and wittier than the 2008 miniseries, more in spirit with the book. It has a lot of heart.

A lively cast

I think of Emma Thompson as a more spirited character than Elinor Dashwood, but she portrays the quiet, steady heroine well. Kate Winslet, who will forever be Rose from Titanic to me, is an excellent fit for emotional Marianne.

Gemma Jones’ Mrs. Dashwood is more like the novel character than the 2008 adaptation. She is more expressive and shares more in common with Marianne, as she did in the book.

Emilie François’ Margaret is introduced as a moping voice from a treehouse that looks like something out of an old Hollywood adventure movie. This sets her up to be adventurous and have more personality than her nearly nonexistent book figure.

Hugh Grant’s Edward does a commendable job trying to respect Mrs. Dashwood and temper his sister’s selfishness. I did find him awkward at first, and not endearing. (More on his character in the adaptational changes section.)

Cutting out Lady Middleton and making Sir John a widower surprised me. I don’t think being a widower would really allow Sir John the cheery social disposition he had in the book, but Robert Hardy maintains book-accurate personality. Elizabeth Spriggs, Mrs. Jennings in this work, played an entertaining role in Wives and Daughters. I was a little disappointed with her Mrs. Jennings. She’s a bit too ridiculous and not as kind as in the book.

Alan Rickman as Colonel Brandon… It feels strange, as a viewer in 2020, to hear Mr. Snape’s voice from Colonel Brandon’s character, but his sweet concern and friendliness with the Dashwoods soon dissipates that weirdness.

Colonel Brandon and Elinor’s friendship was carried well from book to screen in this movie. I always loved their scenes together on the page, and Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson do them justice.

Greg Wise’s Mr. Willoughby has an almost ominous introduction through the movie’s framing, but he swiftly becomes the hero. The sensual framing of his handling Marianne’s exposed (stockinged) ankle to check for breaks made me chuckle.

Our first real look at Willoughby’s face establishes him as exactly the handsome, friendly personality he was in the book. (So much better than the 2008 Willoughby…) He charms everyone, myself included, immediately. He even gives Marianne his personal notebook of sonnets.

Creative decisions and additions

This adaptation makes it seem much clearer that Mr. Dashwood did, indeed, expect his son to help his daughters financially, which his wife Fanny talks him out of in the next scene. The first few minutes of the movie only show us John and Fanny. This strikes me as an interesting creative choice — rather than introduce us first to the main characters, the movie opens with the same scene Austen did.

The movie acknowledges servants’ lives in a way the book did not. I recall the Pride and Prejudice 1995 miniseries doing something similar.

While I don’t love Edward as Elinor does, his scenes talking and playing with Margaret did make me smile. Their relationship is a completely new addition to the adaptation not in the book; it humanizes and romanticizes Edward, making him in viewers’ eyes the romantic male lead whom Austen, in the book, simply tells us he is. It also fleshes out Margaret’s character.

Other added Edward scenes include finding Elinor crying over her father’s loss, long walks discussing their dreams and struggles, and horseback riding.

In this version of the story, Mrs. Dashwood receives the invitation to Barton Cottage earlier but keeps it hidden from Elinor in hopes of pushing her and Edward together. This is also the scene in which Marianne expresses her concerns about Edward not being passionate enough — but to her mother, not to Elinor like in the book.

Marianne and Elinor do have a conversation about Edward, but it’s different. Instead of criticizing Edward and questioning the match, Marianne assumes that they will be married soon and teases her about their relationship. “‘Is love a fancy or a feeling?,'” she quotes from a poem. “Or a Ferrars?” she adds.

Fanny’s choice of words when warning Mrs. Dashwood about Edward and Elinor clearly foreshadow his secret relationship with Lucy. Those of us familiar with the story know the engagement has been long established between the two characters by this point. A man expected to pursue a great marriage, on whom penniless women prey, who would always keep his word though it would lead to his ruin…

Edward and Elinor’s goodbye is awkward. He begins what sounds like a proposal, but then rambles about his education in Plymouth. Readers will recognize that he is attempting to tell Elinor about his secret engagement to Lucy, but he is interrupted by Fanny. This scene gives Edward more agency than in the book, where he made no attempt to explain his situation so early.

Margaret has a much more prominent presence in this movie than either the book or the 2008 miniseries. She’s portrayed as a forward-thinking girl seeking adventure and casting off manners, clearly intended to relate more to modern, feminist audiences.

Colonel Brandon’s backstory is edited. Rather than his lost love Eliza being married off to his brother, she is cast out of the house when her and Brandon’s love is discovered because she is too poor for the family’s liking. We also learn this much earlier, from Mrs. Jennings rather than Brandon himself.

The age difference between Kate Winslet and Alan Rickman — 29 years! — is even greater than their characters’ (18 years) and significantly greater than that between the actors in the 2008 adaptation (16 years).

The movie cuts Edward’s visit to the cottage out completely; the family’s disappointment and confusion is acknowledged.

Marianne and Willoughby’s unchaperoned visit to his aunt’s estate while she is gone is replaced by a wild, speeding chariot ride. This does make Marianne’s offense seem less inappropriate and more simply youthful, which casts Elinor in a more stern light for scolding her. Of course, this is immediately followed by Marianne being inexcusably rude to Colonel Brandon when he invites her and Elinor to his picnic.

The movie kept Willougby’s criticism and mockery of Colonel Brandon and Mrs. Jennings, which amused Marianne and Margaret but annoyed me in both the book and movie. In his sudden, unexpected goodbye the next day, he seems much more upset to be leaving and aware of the impact it will have on the family than the 2008 screen character. Overall, Greg Wise’s performance feels far more faithful to me.

Lucy Steele, played by Imogen Stubbs, is introduced much earlier in the plot, joining the group for the intended picnic on Brandon’s estate. Her sister is completely cut from this adaptation.

Lucy’s motives for befriending Elinor are portrayed differently in this movie. She seeks Elinor out after hearing good things about her and seems to genuinely want information about Mrs. Ferrars. She does tell her secret after hearing Mrs. Jennings tease Elinor about “Mr. F” (which, if I recall, was what prompted Lucy talking to Elinor in the book). Also, for some reason, the movie added a year to the length of Lucy and Edward’s engagement.

With the alterations to her timeline, Lucy is also invited with Elinor and Marianne on Mrs. Jennings’ and the Palmers’ London trip. She does establish her jealousy with time.

The movie stays true to the book in that, for whatever unknown reason, Lucy develops genuine feelings for Robert. It gives better evidence with some added moments establishing the couple.

Emma Thompson’s Elinor shows a great deal more emotion at Marianne’s heartbreak than I pictured while reading, or was portrayed in 2008. She seemed more like Emma Thompson and less like Elinor in that moment, but it did stay true to how upset book Elinor feels in that moment for her sister.

Miss Morton, the wealthy lady in the book whom Edward’s family expects him to marry, is now simply the name of an off-screen friend of Mrs. Jennings. Easter egg for the book fans!

When Colonel Brandon does tell his story to Elinor, Eliza’s daughter (now named Beth) is 20, rather than 15. Cut out some of that yikes factor. Movie Brandon adds his certainty that Willoughby did intend to marry Marianne before his aunt disowned him. This age change, and the explanation coming from Brandon rather than Willoughby, softens the scoundrel’s behavior better than his stupid drunken book “apology” — which they cut entirely. Thank goodness!

A script full of humor and wit

This movie brimmed with wit, some from the book and the rest in line with Austen’s style.

From Fanny: “Where is Miss Margaret? I declare, Mrs. Dashwood, I’m beginning to doubt of her existence!” She’s trying to shame Mrs. Dashwood’s parenting, but it made me laugh thinking of how often I forgot the third sister existed when reading the book.

I giggled at the scene in which Marianne tries to correct Edward’s reading of poetry. Poor Edward.

When talking to her mother, Marianne holds up Juliet and Guinevere as romantic role models. Mrs. Dashwood points out their tragic endings. Marianne replies, “To die for love? … What could be more glorious?” Cut to me picturing Rose and Jack from Titanic and snorting at the irony. Perhaps Kate Winslet’s Marianne laid the path for her role as Rose two years later? One can wonder.

Also loved this exchange between the sisters after Willoughby has rescued Marianne; after he leaves, she’s still in her rain-drenched clothes:

Elinor: “Marianne, you must change. You will catch a cold.”

Marianne, wistfully: “What care I for colds when there is such a man?”

Elinor: “You will care very much when your nose swells up.”

Marianne, quite serious: “You are right. Help me, Elinor.”

Parting thought: the 1995 and 2008 versions of Sense and Sensibility both have their pros and cons. I can’t say I prefer one over the other. But if we could have Dan Stevens as Edward and Greg Wise as Willoughby in both (sorry Hugh Grant fans!), that would place them both quite near perfect.