 Upon its release , Persuasion at first failed to attract many critical reviews . This changed when Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility were released in late 1995 to great success in the UK . Their reception lifted the earlier film out of obscurity , as Austen 's popularity became apparent among critics . Persuasion garnered highly positive reviews from major film critics , and critical review website Rotten Tomatoes has since calculated a rating of 83 % , which refers to the percentage of positive reviews . Caryn James of The New York Times deemed it a " critic 's pick " , praising " a cast completely in sync with Austen 's warm but piercing style " . Jay Carr of The Boston Globe highlighted Root 's performance , calling it " a heart @-@ stoppingly reticent yet glorious debut " . 
