there's something amiss...

Right. I'll at least start with what I liked about the new version of Persuasion. Costumes - lovely. Scenery - lovely. Music - extra lovely. Acting - respectable; I hardly recognized Anthony Stewart Head.

There. I've done my duty. I didn't hate it, but it didn't do the story justice, and it's not nearly as good as the 1995 version.

The writing. It felt like the screenplay raced through the story, and it's a short novel as it is. Her books are not a fast read, you miss all the good stuff if you race through them, so film versions should keep that in mind. It's odd that this one runs so fast, considering that the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice was five hours long.

The adaptation. Quite a bit was changed or moved around, I suspect because it was meant to be as different from the 1995 version as possible. Some of the best conversations were left out entirely. Mrs Smith is walking around, rather than being the invalid she is in the book. Anne running all over Bath, which is out of character for that character (and why was her hair pulled back so tightly? That looked uncomfortable and severe.). Wentworth as a blond (though a handsome one) and not even in uniform, and moody - why would Henrietta or Louisa want him when he doesn't take the trouble to be agreeable as he does in the book? When there's good reason to change something from book to film, I can accept that. When things are changed just to change them, I take issue - why mess with the story when it's unnecessary? That's rude. And tacky. And uncalled for. And confusing. And rude.

The mood. Cold and dark, and that ain't Austen. Rather thick air of repression, which Austen handled far more delicately, mistress of the pen that she was. Anne writing in dark rooms, looking directly at the camera, trying to keep from crying at the drop of a hat.

The acting. Sir Walter is a snob, but an idiotic, somewhat comical snob. Head's version had an unsettling menace to him. I half-expected him to hit the actress playing Anne with his walking stick when she made it clear she was going to see Mrs Smith. We only seem to get glimpses of characters - just about all the supporting characters have far larger parts in the story than in this film version, so you barely get to know them.

All told, this version felt more like a preview of a larger film than the film itself. I'll stick to the book and the Hinds/Root version, thank you.