Masterpiece Theatre Classic: Jane Austen's Persuasion (2007)

BUMP!!  Let's revisit.  Love, love, love this gentle film.  This movie  continues to be a favorite version of Persuasion.  The cast of characters here are charming, but it is Capt. Wentworth--Rupert Penry-Jones--who is simply delightful.  You know the story...

Over the course of the next few months, Masterpiece Theatre is presenting six adaptations of Jane Austen novels. Persuasion is the first.

Anne Elliot (Sally Hawkins) is 27. Unmarried and dealing with family financial peril, hope is fading for our heroine. Eight years ago, she was persuaded by her family not to marry a young naval officer whose fortune was yet untold. Now, circumstances bring Captain Frederick Wentworth (Rupert Penry-Jones) back into her life. Returning from sea, Wentworth finds no lack of swooning young ladies. Anne is determined to avoid him, brooding on what should have been.  She's desperate to know if he still loves her and yet afraid to find out. Can love lost be rekindled?

Nothing can take away from this beautiful adaptation filled with period drama, lovely costumes, and rich dialogue. Hawkins is the perfect morose, wistful, but stoic creature. The dashing Captain Wentworth is quite break-taking. Ladies can't help but melt at the sight. Although, he does have a very fashion forward hair style for the period.

Unrequited love, delicate and haunting and so very romantic. 

Originally reviewed:  01.18.08