Emma

Emma’s my favourite story by Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice isn’t that bad either but it’s probably because I enjoy watching the Emma movie even more. Gwyneth Paltrow plays Emma.

Emma Woodhouse is rich, smart, and loves playing matchmaker. Her governess, Miss Taylor recently got married and so it’s only Emma and her father in their huge house. Mr. Knightley (Jeremy Northam), Emma’s brother-in-law, visits them occasionally. He is the brother of Emma’s sister’s husband. He frequently advises Emma and warns Emma when she takes things too far.

Since Miss Taylor can’t spend much time with Emma anymore, she has acquired a new friend, Harriet Smith (Toni Collette from The Sixth Sense). Harriet doesn’t know who her parents are but she’s under the care of a Mrs. Godard. Ignoring Mr. Knightley’s warnings, Emma goes on to try to match make Harriet and the preacher, Mr. Elton (Alan Cumming). Unbeknownst to Emma, Mr. Elton was actually falling for her.

Harriet has another admirer, Mr. Martin, but Emma does not approve of him because he’s only a farmer. She thinks that Harriet deserves a better guy. Not wanting to upset Emma, Harriet listens to Emma and rejects Mr. Martin when he asked her to marry him!

I really, really love this movie! Gwyneth Paltrow is fantastic as Emma. I’ve always thought that Paltrow is an English actress but she’s actually American. She has the English look, that’s why she’s always playing the roles of English women.

All the same, I also enjoy watching the interactions between Emma and Mr. Knightley. I wanted to look out for secret glances between them to see how their relationship developed. Northam was also perfect as Mr. Knightley. They are now officially my favourite couple from books and movies.