Bride and Prejudice - PG-13

Fluffy Bollywood-style musical romance that some teens may enjoy.

Rating: PG-13 for some sexual references Studio: Miramax Directed By: Gurinder Chadha Cast: Martin Henderson Running Time: 111 minutes Release Date: 02/11/2005 Genre: Musical

Common Sense Note

Parents should know that this film contains a fistfight and mild sexual situations -- there is kissing, and the cad of the film sweeps a naive young girl off her feet, and has to be chased down before he can take advantage of her. An unwanted pregnancy is mentioned, and there are mild references to homosexuality, including a chorus line of dancing transvestites.

Families who watch this film might want to talk about how money affects the characters in the film. Which do the characters care about more, the cultural differences between India, England, and America or the economic differences? How does Lalita's perception of Darcy as a wealthy American affect her attitude toward him? How does Bijili seem to feel about America versus India?

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Will Fertman

BRIDE AND PREJUDICE is a fluffy Bollywood-style musical romance that will be fun for teens and parents who can forgive some half-baked lyrics. By director Gurinder Chadha, responsible for the great Bend it Like Beckham, BRIDE is a pretty faithful retelling of Jane Austin's "Pride and Prejudice". Lalita (Aishwarya Rai) is the second oldest daughter of a well-to-do Indian family, celebrating the arranged engagement of their oldest to the wealthy and handsome Balraj Bingley (Naveen Andrews), an Indian living in Britain. He's come to meet his future wife, and he's brought his aristocratic sister Kiran (Indira Varma) and American buddy William Darcy (Martin Henderson).

It's Darcy's first time in India, and he's having trouble adjusting. So when a huge musical number breaks out, he just doesn't feel comfortable jumping into the swirling throng and dancing. To Lalita, he comes off as aloof, and she dismisses him as a boorish American, more interested in making money than in the beautiful culture around him.

And it is beautiful -- the musical bits are swirls of choreographed color, with dozens of synchronized dancers reminiscent of Busby Berkely productions. The music never quite rises to the level of the dancing, however, and the tepid English lyrics in particular grow tiring as the movie goes on, as Lalita and Darcy repeatedly grow closer and draw apart. The actors are charming, though, and the inevitable crisis near the end of the film which gives the movie a needed pick-up.

If your kid is interested in the mushy stuff, Jane Austin's original book is funny and engrossing, and would make a perfect introduction to "great literature" for any advanced reader (14+), or a great one to read with your older kids. BRIDE is a fun two hours, but "Pride" will outlast it by centuries.

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