Ang Lee's finely tuned version of Sense and Sensibility brings his keen sense of family dynamics and social satire to the Jane Austen classic. After the death of their father the Dashwood sisters—sensible Elinor (Emma Thompson) and sensitive Marianne (Kate Winslet)—are left homeless and impoverished, until the widowed Mrs. Dashwood's cousin takes pity on them and offers a small cottage on his estate. There they encounter suitors in the form of charming Edward (Hugh Grant) and the dashing Willoughby (Greg Wise), but despite genuine affection the family's reduced standing makes the sisters a less desirable marriage prospect. Ever pragmatic, the elder sibling Elinor does all she can to keep her family together, even at the cost of her own potential happiness.

A sparkling comedy of manners, Sense and Sensibility feels deeply contemporary in its examination of love and compromise. Star and screenwriter Emma Thompson won an Academy Award for her deft adaptation, creatively paired with Lee by veteran producer Lindsay Doran who, impressed with the nuance of the Taiwan director's comedic dramas The Wedding Banquet and Eat Drink Man Woman, brought him on for this English-language breakthrough hit. Together, they work magic in bringing Austen's first novel into the present day with wit and tenderness.