I'd completely how funny Ang Lee's adaptation of Sense and Sensibility is. A great deal of credit's due to Emma Thompson, who wrote the often-uproarious screenplay. One of my favorite moments, certainly, is the moment when Edward tells Elinor, of Elinor's younger sister, "She's heading an expedition to China shortly. I'm to go as her servant. But only on the understanding that I am to be very badly treated." Jane Austen never stinted to be funny, and Thompson does a lovely imitation and extension of Austen's sense of humor.
But it's unfortunate that Lee's vanished into a particular kind of dourness for so much of his career. I say that not to cast aspersions on Brokeback Mountain, which is a gem, and politically important. But he has such a gift for funniness. Eat Drink Man Woman is beautifully shot, and deeply felt. But a lot of its emotional wellsprings are tapped when laughter shatters a deep cleft in hardness. There's a lot of sadness in an old maid turning up loud gospel on annoying karaoke-singing neighbors, whipping out the red lipstick, and marching out to snag her a gym teacher, but there's a lot of laughter and joy in her awakening, too. Similarly, an annoying widow's ridiculous expectations may be hilarious, but they conceal deep hopes, too. I do hope he has the good sense not to have completely abandoned that wonderful sensibility.