Scents and Sensibility

Austen Radicalized
This modern day version of the great Jane Austen novel holds on to the original by the slimmest of threads while providing a predictable but cute romantic comedy.

Using similar character names, e.g., the Dashwoods, and very general storyline, three sisters and their mother(although this movie's mostly about the two older sisters, Elinor and Marianne)struggle to make it in the world after their great fortune is lost.

*Spoiler Alert*-Here the father is imprisoned for being a financial, Madoff-like crook. Elinor and Marianne find desperate employment cleaning toilets and such at a spa and working as a copy girl, respectively. Marianne has a gift for making lotions from flowers that the no good Fran Ferrars(sister of kindly Edward) steals. Their little sister needs medicine for her leukemia, and mother is rarely seen.-End Alert- It sounds worst than it is for there is romance in the air, and overall, everything is mostly lighthearted with a few dramatic...

Fun and clean movie
Obviously more of a chick flick but still good. It is very clean, no swearing or sex scenes, which is so hard to come by anymore. Not super realistic but the girls do try to "earn" a living rather than giving up. There are some laughs, and it is fun to see how it relates to Austen's "Sense and Sensibility", even using the same character's names.

This is fun to watch with daughters and girlfriends. I've watched it a few times now and will continue to with friends who haven't seen it. I also bought it for my married daughter for her birthday.

Bears little resemblance to Austen's story
This is a cute movie and an acceptable way to fill a boring afternoon, but this book bears very little resemblance to Jane Austen's book. The main characters have the same names, but that's where the similiarities end. Also, most of the funniest parts of the original book (Mrs. Jennings & Sir John, in particular) are missing from this story. This movie is not funny and doesn't have much drama, either. It was OK, but I would rather have waited for this to come up on cable than to have bought it. I gave it 3 stars because it is a cute story, but to call it an adaptation of S&S is REALLY a stretch. Clueless is a better adaptation of Emma than this is of Sense & Sensibility.

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