This is a really good Austen film, and kudos to Emma Thompson who wrote the screenplay (for which she won an Oscar). It sticks pretty close to the book, with some exceptions, and is very well cast. Thompson is much older than Elinor is in the novel, but this is not the end of the world and she does a very creditable job portraying her levelheaded character. The film is on one level about the lives and loves of the Dashwood sisters. It is also, however, a study of the differences in the way Elinor and Marianne deal with these things. Elinor's cautious and prudent behaviour is contrasted with Marianne's impulsive, feelings-based responses. We are invited to decide for ourselves which is the better approach.