Jane Austen said about Emma, "I am going to create a character which no one but myself will much like." Sure. Emma is regarded by many as JA's greatest work, and there have been four movie adaptions of this timeless story. This particular adaption is the one that came out in '96, with Gwenyth Paltrow as Emma.

Emma is the story of a pretty rich girl who likes to make matches. She is convinced that her governess got married only because of her, and is determined that her new aquaintance, Harriet Smith, be married well too. This has catsatrophic results, but in the end everything comes out happily. Emma marries Knightly, and Harriet marries Robert Martin.

I loved every minute of it. The costumes were gorgeous, with all the pretty fabrics and empire waists. Especially the ones at the ball! The script was also very close to the original book ,I thought, which was a plus.

I hadn't seen Gwenyth Paltrow in any movies before Emma, but I was very impressed from the first lines. She is pretty, of course, and looked very sweet in the old fashioned dresses. Actually, Emma is kind of a spoiled brat (for instance when she snubbed Miss Bates at Box Hill) but Gwenyth was such a charming brat! (and she was always quick to repent.) My mom said she got the English accent down pretty well too (she's from Ireland, so she should know!)