Emma (1996)

Director:

Douglas McGrath

Writers (WGA):

Jane Austen (novel)
Douglas McGrath (screenplay)

Release Date:

2 August 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Cupid is armed and dangerous!

Plot:

In rural 1800s England things go bad for a young matchmaker after she finds a man for another woman.

Plot Keywords:

Love | England | Jane | Matchmaker | Austen

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Gwyneth Paltrow	...	Emma Woodhouse
James Cosmo	...	Mr. Weston
Greta Scacchi	...	Mrs. Weston
Alan Cumming	...	Mr. Elton
Denys Hawthorne	...	Mr. Woodhouse
Sophie Thompson	...	Miss Bates
Jeremy Northam	...	Mr. Knightley
Toni Collette	...	Harriet Smith
Kathleen Byron	...	Mrs. Goddard
Phyllida Law	...	Mrs. Bates
Edward Woodall	...	Mr. Robert Martin
Brett Miley	...	Little Boy
Brian Capron	...	John Knightley
Karen Westwood	...	Isabella Knightley
Paul Williamson	...	Footman

MPAA:

Rated PG for brief mild language.

Runtime:

121 min | Canada:94 min (Ontario)

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:PG (Ontario) | South Korea:15 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Belgium:KT | Brazil:12 | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Germany:6 (w) | Netherlands:AL | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Came House, Dorchester, Dorset, England, UK

Company:

Miramax Films

Trivia:

Mrs. Bates and Miss Bates, mother and daughter in the film, are played by real-life mother and daughter Phyllida Law and Sophie Thompson (who are also real-life mother and sister to Academy-Award-winning actress and screenwriter Emma Thompson).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Harriet runs her fingers along a harp and the sound that is heard is a perfect chord going up a scale, fitting in perfectly with the music that is being played. In reality, it would be virtually impossible to pluck a perfect chord when you run your fingers casually along the strings, and secondly any sound made would be going *down* scale, since she was dragging her fingers that way down the strings.

Quotes:

Rev. Elton: Were I not an old married man, I should gladly do the job. But my dancing days are over.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Gwyneth Paltrow/Barenaked Ladies (#24.12)" (1999)

Soundtrack:

Jacob Hall's Jig

Gwyneth surprises

I have no idea how a Texan (the director, Douglas McGrath) and the American actress Gwyneth Paltrow ever pulled this off but seeing this again will remind you what all the fuss about Ms. Paltrow was in the first place! I had long since gone off the woman and still feel she is rather dull in her Oscar-winning "Shakespeare In Love" performance but she gets all the beats right here--she is nigh on perfect as Emma Woodhouse. She may have won her Oscar for Shakespeare but she should be remembered for this.

Of course, she's surrounded by a great supporting cast including Toni Collette, Greta Scacchi, Juliette Stevenson et al...Jeremy Northam is very appealing as the love interest, even if the script wallows a bit in his declaration of love to Paltrow (in the process, allowing all of the tension to drain out of their relationship); several years on, Ewan's hair is a little easier to take than it was in '96 and, personally, I find puckish Alan Cumming a grating presence in anything nowadays. But the standout is, without a doubt, Sophie Thompson (sister of Emma Thompson, daughter of Phyllida Law) as Miss Bates; what this version needs is a scene where Emma reconciles with Miss Bates, as she is the character to whose fate we are drawn. The film is worth watching (again even) for her performance alone.

All in all, this has aged wonderfully with charm to spare and more than enough subtlety to sort out the British class system. Well worth a rental (because its unlikely that Paltrow will ever be this good again--but we'll always have Emma).