Emma

Incandescent young star-of-the-moment Gwyneth Paltrow acquits herself admirably in this 19th-century screwball comedy in which futures tremble on the placement of a ribbon or the precise distribution of satin in a wedding dress. Purists will no doubt dissect the angels-on-pinheads minutiae of Austen-mania over endless cups of tea, their lips tightly pursed as they consider the concessions to vulgarians: Is Paltrow too self-absorbed -- not to mention American -- to play Austen's pampered but well-meaning heroine? Did CLUELESS shamefully debase Austen's wry, exquisitely nuanced tale of an aspiring matchmaker who makes an almighty botch of several people's love...