How wonderful is a movie with an ending that is absolutely foregone before the opening credits scroll by, and it’s still deliciously suspenseful? From my review of Pride & Prejudice:

And you know -- you know -- of course how the whole affair will end, that Jane and Bingley's perfection for and attraction to each other, obvious from the moment they meet, will survive all the bumps along the way to the altar, and that the electric sparks that fly off Lizzie and Darcy that they mistake for antagonism and disdain will at last be recognized for the explosive sexual chemistry that it is. But this movie version is like Austen's novel in that every time you read it, it's so gripping and so expert a portrait of insecurity and uncertainty and denial that it seems possible that this time around, Lizzie and Darcy will not, in fact, end up together. And so there's tremendous apprehension and doubt woven into this magnificent movie, and some of that is down to director Joe Wright, who makes you ache along with Lizzie and Darcy (and Jane and Bingley) with languid shots of misty morning fields and long visual sighs of despair...

• review of Pride & Prejudice, posted 11.14.05

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