It's great to have such "natural" acting, but a shame that this means a lot of mumbling and muttering in the British accent and vernacular. I have to turn up the volume very loud and still cannot make out so much that entire scenes go by where I have no idea what was said.Otherwise, just from trying to watch this film I can tell it is probably a very good movie -- IF you can understand it. If one could get a copy with good English subtitles it would be well worth it, no doubt, if your first language is not British English. (Unfortunately the only copy I have access to right now is mechanically translated, which machine is worse than me at making out what is being said!)

In this adaptation of Persuasion you get the book almost entirely verbatim. The scenery is lush and alive but at the same time dull. It represents wonderfully how our heroine Anne sees life both before and after her Captain has come home, and both before and after he wins her heart a second time.You really see how embarrassed she is upon his return, you see how much she still loves him but how she will not be the one to stand in his way of true happiness. The characters all come to life and the actors bring their own take on all of them. Any lover of Jane Austen will appreciate how well this movie was made. This is one of the best book to movie translations ever seen on screen. 9/10

I really enjoy period movies; I really enjoy Jane Austen stories. It's hard for me to dislike anything that falls in these categories. I would not say that I did not enjoy this movie; Ciaran Hinds is wonderful, the Crofts are immensely lovable, I was amused by Sophie Thompson as the self-centered Mary Musgrove, I even liked to dislike Sir Elliott. But Amanda Root as Anne Elliott sometimes gets on my nerves, with her "poor me" expressions and her sad puppy eyes. It was too much; Jane Austen heroes - and heroines - are all about hiding true emotions in public in order to appear as composed as possible at any time. I had a really hard time to believe people would not have seen through Anne's displays of emotion. However, I must say that as I've watched the movie several times, I notice it less, and it doesn't get on my nerves as much anymore. But I have to say it's the one thing that stuck out for me on first viewing, and I found it very distracting, and hard to identify with her because of that.

This is one of my favourite Jane Austen dramatisations. I really like it for three reasons: 1) Amanda Root is outstandingly good as Anne Elliot. She really captures the character to perfection, and it is a hard part to act, too, since in many scenes, especially in the first half, she is simply listening to other people, and all of her emotions are conveyed by means of facial expressions and body language.2) The musical score. So many Jane Austen adaptations use an orchestral score. This one sticks to simple piano accompaniment and it works very well indeed.3) The supporting cast. A lot of the supporting characters really come to life, thanks to excellent ensemble playing from the likes of Susan Fleetwood as Lady Russell, Robert Glenister as Captain Harville, Fiona Shaw as Mrs Croft and Simon Russell Beale as Charles Musgrove.