Emma

Emma (1996) is a period romantic comedy adapted from Jane Austen, ready to watch online on iFILM. Douglas McGrath wrote and directed this version, with Gwyneth Paltrow in the title role.

Emma Woodhouse is young, rich, and convinced she reads other people's hearts better than they do. To cure a quiet country summer, she plays matchmaker for her sweet, impressionable friend Harriet, schemes around the local vicar, and gets nearly every pairing wrong. The one man who sees straight through her and never flatters is Mr. Knightley, the family friend played by Jeremy Northam. What Emma cannot manage is to read her own feelings. The supporting cast includes Toni Collette, Ewan McGregor and Alan Cumming.

The charm here is that Emma is most likable when she fails, not when she succeeds. McGrath trusts Austen's dialogue to carry the wit and never lets the sentiment turn syrupy. Rachel Portman's score took home the Oscar for Best Original Score, the first ever awarded to a woman in that category. Stream Emma (1996) online on iFILM.