Patricia Rozema

Jane Austen is one of my favorite authors and I love many of the adaptations: I adore the Colin Firth Pride and Prejudice, the Emma Thompson Sense and Sensibility, the Gweneth Paltrow Emma and the 2007 Northanger Abbey with Geraldine James and Michael Judd in lead roles. This adaptation? Not so much.

Admittedly Mansfield Park is my least favorite of Austen's novels--I'm not alone in that--it's atypical in several ways. Ironically though, I found I couldn't forgive this because it was so show more unfaithful to the original. Maybe I would have liked it more had I never read the book? But the film tries to fix the rather meek and prim Fanny Price by injecting a lot of the young Jane Austen in her--making her have ambitions to write and giving her lines from letters and juvenalia. I just couldn't reconcile this witty and spirited version of Fanny with the original. And strangely, that rather reduced the point and courage of her sticking to her principles. (And the film takes another liberty in that regard that made me squirm.) show less

Aspiring reporter Kit Kittredge can't resist bringing home strays, whether it's Grace, an abandoned basset hound, or Will and Countee, a pair of young hobos willing to trade work for meals. Bright, inquisitive and generous, Kit is a natural born leader. But her happy childhood is abruptly interrupted when her father loses his car dealership and must leave Cincinnati to look for work. Kit and her mother Margaret are left to manage on their own, growing vegetables, selling eggs and even taking show more in an assortment of boarders including an itinerant magician, a vivacious dance instructor on the prowl for a husband and a zany mobile librarian. When a crime spree sweeps Cincinnati, all signs point to the local 'hobo jungle, ' where Will and Countee live with a group of their impoverished companions. Kit, who always has her antennae out for a good news story, convinces her new friends to take her to see the hobo camp for herself and writes an article that creates a sympathetic portrait of the camp's residents. But when Kit's mother and their boarders become the latest victims in a string of robberies, Kit's loyalties are tested. Will is accused of the crimes and, with all of their savings gone, the Kittredges face losing their house to foreclosure. Determined to recover the stolen money and believing Will is innocent, Kit recruits her friends Ruthie and Stirling to help her track down the real culprit. Together they uncover a plot that goes far beyond Cincinnati! show less

This would be better described as inspired by the Jane Austen novel, as it is not a faithful adaptation of it. To keep length down it focuses on the central love story and the theme of slavery, to the exclusion of many other important aspects of this long novel. Harold Pinter is interesting as Sir Thomas and many parts are acted well. Frances O'Connor is witty, vivacious and sexy - ie, she is not Fanny Price.

At the height of the Great Depression in Cincinnati, Kit, a spunky 10 year old with ambitions of being a great reporter, faces hardship, prejudice, and theft. With her dad losing his job and facing foreclosure, he looks for work in Chicago. Kit and her mother take in a curious lot of boarders to make ends meet including a magician, a mobile librarian, a dance instructor, and an uptight woman and her son, Sterling. Kit moves into her tree house where she pledges faithfulness to her friends show more and types her stories. Along the way, Kit and her friends Ruthie and Sterling befriend two hobos, a young teen name Will and 5-year-old Countee. Trying to add to the family’s income, Kit writes stories about life in the hobo camps from a kid’s perspective. When thefts occur in the neighborhood and a lockbox with the household’s money and jewelry is stolen, almost everyone suspects Will. It’s up to Kit and her friends to investigate and find the real culprit. This story is based on the American Girl series by Valerie Tripp. The casting and acting are topnotch and stays true to the books’ storyline. Kit embodies characteristics that parents desire for their girls; determination, compassion, integrity, and intelligence. Highly recommended. Girls ages 8-12. show less