Emma Woodhouse lives in a world filled with politeness and decorum. Her governess has just married (thanks to Emma’s matchmaking) and while sad about it, Emma decides to take on the introduction of a new friend into her circle. Harriet Smith is an orphan, raised mainly by her governess. Fresh off the success of her last match, Emma is determined to find Harriet love as well.
While Emma’s intentions are good, she feels that the man Harriet has feelings for, a farmer, isn’t good enough for her and seeks to match her with Mr. Elton. Only Emma doesn’t realize that Mr. Elton is quite smitten with Emma.
One of Emma’s dearest and oldest friends, Mr. Knightly, watches Emma with amusement. You can tell by his expressions that he seems to realize Emma’s matchmaking will not end well, yet he chooses not to say anything and to let her learn. But he chides her gently as she stumbles through her attempts at setting up Harriet. The back and forth between them is delightful to watch.
When Mr. Elton finally declares his feelings for Emma, Emma realizes what a drastic mistake she’s made in trying to fix him up with Harriet, so she then decides to fix Harriet up with Mr. Churchill(the new step-son of her former governess) when a chance encounter seems to leave Harriet smitten.
“Emma” can be a little hard to watch because the cadence of the language is very different from how we speak now, so it does take a bit of getting used to. But the end of the movie is so romantic (Mr. Knightly is the ultimate gentleman), it’s hard not to love it. While it is a good movie that the family could watch together, it’s one that Mom might enjoy watching by herself when the kids are down for a nap.
It’s rated PG for brief mild language. It stars Gwenyth Paltrow, Jeremy Northam, Toni Collette, Alan Cumming and Greta Scacchi. As a side note, for those fans of the movie “Clueless” with Alicia Silverstone, you’ll notice the huge similarities in plot. Both were based on the book by Jane Austen.
Related Blogs:
Pride and Prejudice
The Secret Garden