Review: A pretty version of Austen's _Persuasion,_ but does it work?

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In 2008, the BBC and Public Television embarked on making new versions of several of Jane Austen's novels, including what is one of my favourites, Persuasion. I had seen the version released in the 90's, with Ciaran Hinds and Amanda Root, and enjoyed it very much. At the begining, we see Anne Elliot (Sally Hawkins) going through the rooms of her home, Kellynch Hall, as harried servants are trying to pack up, and placing holland covers on the furniture. She is marking items on lists and trying to direct the servants. In the meantime, her sister, Elizabeth and her father, Sir Walter (Anthony Head), are idling away their time before leaving their home for the less expensive option of lodging in the resort town of Bath. But what is irritating Sir Walter the most is not the loss of his home to raise money by leasing it to a tenant, oh no, it's the fact that the new residents are common. Admiral Croft and his wife are taking on Kellynch and the admiral is a bit of a rough sort, having spent his life at sea, and making a fortune in taking ships of the enemy. During the last minute arrangements, a family friend arrives, Lady Russell (Alice Krige), who commiserates with the Elliotts over their downfall in society. During a conversation with Anne, we learn that she was influential in having Anne reject a suitor, the then Lieutenant Frederick Wentworth, who was seeing action during the Napoleonic wars, and had no fortune to speak of. But now eight years have passed, and Anne is facing the future as a permanent spinster. For a woman in early nineteenth century England, it's pretty bleak. Anne isn't even to have the consolations of Bath, for she is heading off to her other sister's home, to be a sort of unpaid companion to her once again pregnant sister Mary. Mary is much like the rest of her family, self-centered and rather obnoxious, without any of Anne's redeeming qualities. We also meet the Musgroves, Mary's in-laws, who have two young and very pretty daughters, Louisa (Jennifer Higham) and Henrietta. And now Anne's world is about to be turned upside down, for Frederick Wentworth (Rupert Penry-Jones) is about to come back into her life. He is now a captain in the Royal Navy, and has made a considerable amount of money in combat. Now he is visiting his sister, Admiral Croft's wife, and Anne, who had resolved herself over him, is struck again by him. But it seems that Captain Wentworth doesn't even see her, much less even care about her... I came away with very mixed feelings about this film. I liked that there was another version of one of my favourite Miss Austen novels, and it was good to see a group of actors that could act in the various roles. Too, the art direction was very well done, especially with the lighting at nighttime, where candlelight added a soft romantic touch that really did give the right feel for Regency England. I also enjoyed that the actual use of period locations at Lyme Regis and Bath; and Neston Park for Kellynch Hall. But there were problems as well. If the costuming was right, I found the heavy pomades used on the women's hair particularly bad -- it was the style for the period, but it was so heavily used that it was distracting and looked unpleasant. Too, many of the scenes were shot with a polarizing filter, giving far too heavy of a constrast throughout, which again was a distraction. Finally, at just an hour and a half in length, this adaptation felt rushed. With an adaptation written by Simon Burke, and directed by Adrian Shergold, this just careened along, and a great deal of the backstory was cast aside, mostly at the expense of Anne and Wentworth's romance -- we know that they are going to be together, but most of the enchantment of reading Persuasion is watching the pair of them discover that they are still in love with each other despite the mistakes of eight years earlier. And that just isn't fair to the original novel to have it cast aside like that. The end result is that this adaptation doesn't work, despite a promising start and a good cast. It's unlikely that I am going to add this to my collection, despite my mania for all things Austen. About three stars. Somewhat recommended, but only for the die hard fans.