If youâve seen Clueless, and know that it is an adaptation of Austenâs Emma, then youâll know what the filmmakers had in mind when Elizabeth and Darcy (thatâs Will Darcy) are transplanted to a Utah college town. Mom and Dad Bennet are gone, and Elizabethâs four sisters are now her roommates. Darcy is a partner in a publishing firm, and stuffy, middle-aged pastor Collins has become stuffy, young, LDS (Latter Day Saints) missionary Collins. The comedy aspects of the story are given priority, and a rock beat backs up many of the scenes.
Not surprisingly, there are a few rough edges in the transition to current times. The story doesnât make much sense in modern America, where women have options, a sense of decorum and the necessity for a good reputation do not strangle behavior, and marriage is not an absolute necessity. So, either the story has to be changed, or youâve got to find a culture with a very conservative set of values. They did both. The characters are Mormons, which helps elevate the importance of virginity and marriage, but not enough to make it all sensible. Wickhamâs plot has been altered to try and bring it into this century, but it doesnât work. The emotion is missing.
While the connection to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is purely cultural (thereâs no preaching), and essential to explain the concerns of the character, strangely, the distributors of the DVD played it down. The title has been changed, removing âA Latter Day Comedy,â and a few lines have been cut or re-dubbed. This is the work of the brain dead. Removing the name of the church that everyone belongs to does not make the film more accessible, just inexplicable.
Kam Heskin is a likable Elizabeth, and most of the other actors are reasonable for a low-budget picture, but the film never jells. There is no sexual tension between the leads, the ending is forced, and worst of all, it isnât funny. The jokes arenât necessarily bad, but the timing is off. Itâs part delivery, part editing, and part directing, but however you assign blame, there isnât a laugh in sight. Elizabeth and Janeâs PMS ice-cream pig-out should have been funny, but it drags. Thereâs even a montage (yes, a montage, and it doesnât even deal with martial arts training), which is a sign that the director and writers were lost with the material. It isnât the plot that makes the novel a classic, but the language. Austen wrote excellent dialog and itâs not here. No one connected to this project was up to the task of replacing Austen.