Persuasion -

Enjoyable, but dry, adaptation of a Jane Austen romance. Amanda Root plays Anne Elliot, a plain woman on the verge of spinsterhood. Years earlier, she refused the advances of a penniless suitor, on the advice of her rich neighbor. Unfortunately, it appears that it would be the last such offer, and she has resigned herself to a quiet life, withdrawn from romance. However, when her former love, now the rich Captain Wentworth (Ciaran Hinds), reemerges, so do her lost feelings of romance. Anne, however, is too timid to admit them, and Wentworth begins to seek others for companionship. Persuasion is well made, and well acted, especially by Amanda Root. However, it often seems too stiff and formal, like a good, but rather bland, episode of Masterpiece Theater. The passions may be intense, but their presentation is rather staid. The viewer is never swept away, but instead remains a detached observer.