LOS ANGELES, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- U.S. moviegoers will see a decidedly different ending to "Pride & Prejudice" than the British version of the same film.
The U.S. version ends with Keira Knightley's Elizabeth Bennet kissing her Mr. Darcy in a moonlit haze as he repeatedly sighs her name.
The British version ended with Elizabeth's father consenting to Darcy's marriage request and saying: "And if any young men come for Mary or Kitty, send them in, for I am quite at my leisure."
The U.S. version of the film is 8 minutes longer, the Daily Mail reported Tuesday.
The smoochy ending was chosen on the basis of the positive reaction from a test audience, but the Daily Mail said members of the Jane Austen Society of North America are less than impressed.
"It has nothing at all of Jane Austen in it, is inconsistent with the first two-thirds of the film, insults the audience with its banality, and ought to be cut before release," said former society president Elsa Solender.
The film opens nationwide in U.S. theaters Nov. 23.
