(U, 127mins) Keira Knightley, Matthew MacFadyen, Brenda Blethyn, Donald Sutherland. Directed by Joe Wright.

The stormy relationship between headstrong Elizabeth Bennet and broody Mr Darcy has featured on both small and big screens, yet there is always room in Hollywood for a new take on a classic tale of love and misunderstanding.

Luckily for fans of Jane Austen's classic novel, director Joe Wright hasn't hammed up this version of Pride And Prejudice too much.

Set in class-conscious England near the end of the 18th Century, Wright has gone for a much earthier, more honest look than previous Austen film adaptations.

Instead of the chocolate-box image of the period we are used to, the director has made the hair look greasy and the clothes shabby. There are crumbs on the table and donkeys wandering about in the garden.

More significantly, he's made Mrs Bennet's obsession with her daughters marrying into money seem reasonable and not laughable - emphasising the troubling predicament of an heirless family.

On hearing the exciting news that the single and wealthy Mr Bingley (Simon Woods) has moved to Netherfield Park, Mrs Bennet (Blethyn) becomes determined one of her five daughters will marry him.

A grinning Mr Bingley is immediately taken with the eldest girl, Jane (Rosamund Pike) but the course of their true love is hampered by his proud and aloof friend Mr Darcy (McFadyen).

He has no desire to lower himself to fraternise with the provincials and declines to dance with Elizabeth (Knightley), fuelling her prejudice against him.

She brings as much charm and genial wit to the character of Elizabeth as Jennifer Ehle did in the 1995 TV series and proves she isn't just a pretty face.

A magnificently moody Colin Firth made the part of Mr Darcy his own in that popular BBC production and this period drama is sorely crying out for him to boldly fill those shoes once again.

MacFadyen plays Darcy as if he were a grumpy adolescent who insults the girl he loves because he's too clueless to do anything else.

But aside from a weak leading beau, this gritty adaptation of Austen's novel is a very amiable romantic flick - packed with good humour, vivid social history and an ending which will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy inside.