Bride and Prejudice (2005)

Austen-tatious

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy Bride and Prejudice on DVD.

Like Monsoon Wedding before it, Bride and Prejudice tries to incorporate some of the Bollywood style of filmmaking to mainstream American. But unlike the previous effort, the new film, directed by Gurinder Chadha (Bend It Like Beckham), is far more American than Indian. It feels as utterly clueless as the American tourist whose vulgar behavior pushes everyone away. Based loosely on Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice," the film concerns a family of beautiful Indian sisters, all of whom are preoccupied with marriage. The action focuses on the astonishingly gorgeous Lalita (Aishwarya Rai), who meets the American lout (Martin Henderson) in the very first scene. They argue and fight and watch a few lean subplots go by before falling in love and getting married. The boring Henderson is one of the film's main problems, but his British rival (Daniel Gilles) is equally unmemorable; the two are easily interchangeable and there's no stake as to which one Lalita chooses. Breaking up the scenes are even worse musical numbers that look and sound more like insipid "American Idol" numbers than anything from Bollywood. Chadha's previous film, the formulaic Beckham, had spunk and spirit to it, but Bride and Prejudice is a complete misfire.

DVD Details: I tried to watch this disaster a second time, and found it almost totally intolerable. I can't believe how kind I was the first time around. It should be nominated for several Razzie awards at the end of 2005, including Henderson for his deer-in-the-headlights performance, and all of its horrible songs, especially "No Life Without Wife." Miramax's new DVD comes with deleted scenes, extended songs, Ashanti's song, a "making of" featurette, interviews, a commentary track, an optional French language track and optional Spanish subtitles.

Starring: Aishwarya Rai, Martin Henderson, Alexis Bledel, Ashanti
Written by: Gurinder Chadha, Paul Mayeda Berges, based loosely on a novel by Jane Austen
Directed by: Gurinder Chadha
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some sexual references
Language: English
Running Time: 112 minutes
Date: February 11, 2005