Pride and Prejudice

Well, there are four ways we can consider this film:
(a) in relation to the book, which I never read in its entirety
(b) in relation to the 1995 version, which is one of my favorite films
(c) in relation to Domino, the last film Keira Knightley I saw
(d) on its own terms

The best approach is probably the latter. I don't see why they felt the need to make another version. I suppose Jane Austen novels are like Shakespeare, where everyone wants to give their own interpretation. It is actually closer to the book, both in tone, and in dialogue, which only highlights how much of an improvement PP95 was over the novel.

Just like 1996's Sense and Sensibility, the plot of the novel is compressed into roughly an hour and a fourth, which causes the story to lose a lot of its impact, and make it hard to follow what is going on. The wickedness of Mr. Wickham cannot fully be appreciated, which means, by extension, the hidden nobility of Mr. Darcy cannot fully be appreciated.

However, the director has a larger budget to work than PP95, and he adds some cinematic flourishes through the use of camera movement and cinematography.

Also, whereas in the 1995 version, Lizzie and Darcy matched wits and developed an attraction, whereas in the 2005 version, it is more of a matter of attraction begetting a battle of wits, though there is not much chemistry between Knightley and her generic looking leading man.

I was surprised that I was moved by the ending of the film, with Lizzie pleading the case for Darcy with her father.

Knightley was a lot better in the role than I expected her to be. She was a big fan of the 1995 version, and though she said she consciously went to avoid imitating Jennifer Ehle's performance, there is about 10 percent of Keira's performance which has the same mannerisms: the darting eyes, the intonation, the smiles...