(1996)

Submitted by John L

Emma (Gwyneth Paltrow) convinces her friend Harriet (Toni Collette) to reject the marriage proposal of Mr. Martin, a good-hearted but unrefined farmer. Emma thinks Harriet deserves a husband from a higher social class, and she tries repeatedly to play matchmaker for Harriet… always with embarrassingly unsuccessful results.

Emma spends weeks trying to fix Harriet up with the local minister, Reverend Elton (Allen Cumming), but that ends disastrously, as it turns out Elton is in love with Emma herself.

Next, Emma tries to fix up Harriet with the handsome Frank Churchill (Ewan McGregor), but Churchill also shows signs of being in love with Emma! That’s actually a ruse, however- Churchill is already secretly engaged to the shy Jane Fairfax.

Level-headed George Knightley (Jeremy Northam) is the one person who knows of Emma’s matchmaking schemes, and he constantly discourages her efforts. 

Out of politeness, Knightley dances with Harriet at a party. Harriet begins to develop a crush on Knightley. This causes some jealousy in Emma, who begins to realize that she loves Knightley, too.

All is well in the end, however, and everyone lives happily ever after. Emma marries Mr. Knightley, Frank Churchill marries Jane Fairfax, Reverend Elton marries a wealthy girl from the town of Bath and Harriet marries the farmer Martin.