Emma. review: a frothy trifle
The latest adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma is nice to look at but lacking in heart
No one needs another adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma – we already had a perfectly acceptable one headed up by Gwyneth Paltrow in 1996, a BBC miniseries in 2009 starring Romola Garai and the absolutely joyful Valley Girl spin on the story in 1995’s Clueless. Emma. 2020 is actually the fourth theatrical version of the story, while there are eight TV adaps in total. But where’s the harm? It’s a good book.
This latest, the feature directorial debut from Autumn de Wilde, has everything you might expect from a straight Austen adap – lovely countryside, gorgeous dresses, majestic stately homes, a lavish dance and a class divide. But while the production design, costume, hair and make-up and overall world-building is meticulous and impressive, there’s something lacking in this frothy comedy romance. And that’s heart.
Anya Taylor-Joy plays the titular character Emma – “Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever and rich…” as the book begins. It might as well have continued “and also a bit of a dick” in this adaptation which challenges the viewer to find much redeeming in its heroine.
Emma is 21, resolutely single and insufferably smug. Befriending a young woman named Harriet Smith (Mia Goth), whose parentage is unknown, Emma resolves to match her protege with the most eligible man she can find. In her mind, that’s the sleazy Mr Elton (Josh O’Connor – fromSex Education’s Connor Swindells delivering an equally stoic, hang dog performance with even fewer lines) who supposedly loves Harriet.
Meanwhile Emma’s own interest is piqued by the dashing but caddish Mr Churchill (Callum Turner) whose attentions she vies for with poor but accomplished Jane Fairfax (Amber Anderson) overlooking the far more noble suitor George Knightley (Johnny, brother of Jerome, Flynn).
It’s a comedy of manners and it is indeed incredibly mannered from the twinkly score to the self-conscious dialogue to various aspects of the direction including Emma and Churchill enacting dance moves through a stack of chairs in the street. Even the full stop in the title feels like an affectation.
While the movie, like its heroine, looks undeniably pretty, one doubts there’s much more beneath the surface. Taylor-Joy has proven herself to be a talented and versatile actress through films like Thoroughbreds and The Witch, but somehow her Emma is cold, selfish and cruel rather than just a naive, misguided but well intentioned meddler.
Emma. leans into the comedy more than the romance and there are still some good laughs to be had. Elton’s reverence for Emma’s very average artistic skills is a great moment and Bill Nighy, as a classic grumpy Austen patriarch is always good value. Perhaps surprisingly the most heart, laughs and pathos come via Miranda Hart’s unfortunate chatterbox Miss Bates – a sweet-natured but ditzy woman of little means who Emma takes down thoughtlessly in the most dramatic moment of the film. But Emma’s tears over the incident seem more like a self-pitying tantrum after being told off than genuine remorse.
Despite its Valentine’s day release, Emma. isn’t actually terribly romantic. Though there’s fizzy sexual chemistry between Emma and Knightley in the sumptuous ball scenes, when it comes to most of their interactions it’s difficult to fathom exactly what Knightley sees in Emma. Meanwhile Mia Goth plays Harriet as so childlike it’s mildly disturbing to think of her marrying anyone at all.
As great looking dress porn Emma. is frothy fun but Emma’s yellow outfit may well remind you how much you’d rather be watching Cher in Clueless. A diverting if overlong 124 min, it’s an attractive world to visit, you just might not want to hang out with the characters much.
Emma opens in UK cinemas on 14 February