'Pride & Prejudice' does Jane Austen proud

After watching her run around near-nekked with a bow and arrow in "King Arthur" and swashbuckle with style in "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," it's nice to be reminded that Keira Knightley can indeed act.

She did in the wonderful "Bend It Like Beckham," which first brought her to Hollywood's attention. And she does again, quite brilliantly, in "Pride & Prejudice," a new adaptation of Jane Austen's classic early-19th-century novel about manners, money and marriage.

Focus Features 'Pride & Prejudice' B The verdict: Does Jane Austen proud, thanks to Keira Knightley's radiant performance and Joe Wright's spirited direction. Director: Joe Wright Starring: Keira Knightley, Matthew MacFadyen, Rosamund Pike, Jena Malone, Donald Sutherland Run time: 127 minutes Release date: Nov. 11, 2005 Rating: PG for some mild thematic elements. See showtimes On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime Rate 'Pride & Prejudice'   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

The 1995 British mini-series starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle is a hard act to follow, but British TV director Joe Wright smartly takes his version in an entirely different direction. This is Austen for the "Napoleon Dynamite" generation — compact, fast-paced and with a spirited, let's-party immediacy that makes the characters not only come alive, but also easy to identify with.

Wright pays the price for that choice near the end. Unlike another Austen adaptation, Ang Lee's "Sense and Sensibility," which starred Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet, his picture never deepens. The eventual joining of the main lovers (which almost made you weep for joy in the other film), doesn't have the same resonance, the same delicious feeling of this-had-to-happen fulfillment.

Still, a mist-kissed countryside, spot-on period detail, a fine cast and vivid, cinematic direction can take a movie a long way.

Knightley plays one of literature's most famous characters — the proud, quick-witted, headstrong Elizabeth, second eldest of the Bennet family's five daughters. The bustling brood is brilliantly introduced with the same gusto Vincente Minnelli employed when he took us inside the Smiths' home in "Meet Me in St. Louis." Something's going on everywhere you look. One daughter is pounding on the piano. Another is feeding the barnyard ducks. In a side room, Mr. Bennet (Donald Sutherland) learns a certain Mr. Bingley (Simon Woods), a wealthy aristocrat, is visiting his nearby country estate. The news sends the household into a tizzy — as if someone had just told the family there really is a Santa Claus. Most affected is Mrs. Bennet (Brenda Blethyn), a dithery, demented English yenta with marriage constantly on her mind.

Bingley turns up at a local ball and is instantly besotted with Elizabeth's gentle, beautiful older sister, Jane (Rosamund Pike). With him is his handsome London friend, the dour Mr. Darcy (Matthew MacFadyen), who seems to look down on everything and everyone. He deems Elizabeth "tolerable" in the looks department — a description she overhears and later slings back at him, right between the eyes.

It is, of course, love at first sight. But there are obstacles. Her family is poor. His is rich. Both are prideful, sharp-tongued people who refuse to let their guard down. Both learn a few things about themselves as they learn about each other.

Unfortunately, about three-quarters of the way through, the movie noticeably slows down, as if it were winded, as if the giddy mad rush of the earier scenes had damaged its stamina. To compensate, Wright's direction gets fussy and over-busy. And you begin to notice things — such as MacFadyen's bland, disappointing Darcy.

It ultimately doesn't matter because Knightley is radiant enough for both of them. Drolly ironic one moment, girlishly giggly the next, Knightley gives the star-making performance that's eluded her in misfires like "The Jacket" and "Domino." She even holds her own in a scene with Dame Judi Dench (as Darcy's snobby aunt) at her most formidable. Good support comes from Tom Hollander, as an unctious reverend, Wood as the sweet but hapless Bingley, and Sutherland as the Bennets' slightly distracted but always loving patriarch.

In a better world — or, perhaps, a CGI'd one — Knightley would've ended up opposite the studly Firth, the memory of whom can still make strong women swoon. But even on her own, with no Darcy to match her, Knightley brings Austen's book to glorious, pulsating life.