Sense and Sensibility (Ang Lee) Rating: 3.0 Ho-hum, another fine adaptation of a Jane Austen novel. Comparisons with the _Emma_ update/transplant CLUELESS are easily avoided, thanks to the latter's 90's milieu, but it's impossible to overlook the finer and more deeply moving PERSUASION, released scant months ago, when assessing the merits and demerits of this latest foray into the world of early-19th-century manners and mores. Some of these--the merits and demerits, that is--are nearly identical; I would include the fine performances of the actors among the film's virtues, for example, but also include among its vices their familiarity and predictability (Emma Thompson is sane and wise; Alan Rickman is quietly passionate; Hugh Grant stammers a lot, and so on). The film is charming, engaging, and touching in exactly the ways that one would expect; it takes no chances. Also, I found the resolution of the various romantic entanglements rather implausible, though whether the fault lies in Thompson's screenplay or in the source material I cannot say, as this is one of the few Austen novels I've not yet read (why have I read _Northanger Abbey_, but not _Sense and Sensibility_?). Nevertheless, I must admit that I had a wonderful time; the film may be predictable and safe, but it's also assured, confident, and thoroughly enjoyable. It'll win Best Picture.