All right, I admit it. My interest in running out to see the new Jane Austen movie, "Becoming Jane," had little to do with my intimate knowledge of her literary output.
Although I purchased a volume containing her complete works with the intention of reading them all this year, I have yet to crack it open. I do, however, love watching movies based on her work: "Clueless," "Pride and Prejudice," "Sense and Sensibility" -- and of course, "Bridget Jones' Diary," which I once described as the ultimate chick flick.
But that's not the reason I felt compelled to see "Becoming Jane" on opening weekend. Besides, this movie isn't based on one of her beloved novels -- although there are elements in the story that draw from them.
I did murmur something to my husband about hoping to catch some glimpses of Bath, where she made her home. After all, the Jane Austen Centre there is one of the places we did not get to see when we were there earlier this year.
It's a good thing that wasn't the real reason, because this movie doesn't take place in Bath, but in Hampshire, which apparently was where Miss Austen was born and raised. (She must have moved to Bath after she become a published author.) I'm not even sure how many views of Hampshire I got to see in the movie, as the credits indicate that much of it was shot in Ireland.
And yes, I was curious about how young American actress Anne Hathaway would fare as that most English of writers. I remember the British press furor when Renee Zellweger was cast as Bridget Jones, but do not recall any such brouhaha over this movie. I've liked Hathaway since she charmed my daughter and me in "The Princess Diary," and even thought she did well last year opposite Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada." But I wasn't sure I was going to like her as an 18th century Brit.
But truth be told, none of those reasons would be enough to get me to drive down to Hollywood (because it's only playing in one theater in the Valley and the times were inconvenient) to catch a romance that had garnered some mixed reviews.
No, I confess that the reason I could not wait to see this movie was the young man who is co-starring as Hathaway's love interest: James McAvoy. I haven't even seen any of his other films (like "The Last King of Scotland," and "The Chronicles of Narnia," although I may have to catch up with them now on DVD). I became a dirty old woman watching his performance during two seasons of a British TV series called "Shameless," where he played an absolutely adorable car thief.
So that's the real reason why I ended up in Hollywood on Saturday morning with a lot of other women (and a few men) of varying ages. I would guess that most of them came for the Austen-ness of the story. And fortunately, it was pretty Austen-like.
The Jane Austen in the movie, a poor parson's daughter, "needs to be married," her mother laments. She's too intelligent, too outspoken and too independent. And she has no interest in the wealthy suitor who could assure her a comfortable future. Furthermore, she denies having any interest in her neighbor's visiting cousin, a law student who can only be described as a Bad Boy. Of course, we know that he will turn out to be the love of her life. We know it by the energy she puts into pretending to hate him. (Can you say "Mr. Darcy"?)
Hathaway makes a surprisingly credible Jane. I did not have my husband there to criticize her English accent (one of his favorite sports when Americans play Brits), but as "Becoming Jane" was produced by BBC Films, I'm pretty sure they would not have given her the role if she couldn't talk the talk. And she had genuine chemistry with McAvoy.
The rest of the cast was also first-rate, beginning with James Cromwell and Julie Walters as Jane's father and mother (and including the great Maggie Smith and Ian Richardson in small - but important - roles).
I think my lack of knowledge of the real Jane's life made the movie more enjoyable, as the love story portrayed in the film is completely fictional. I did read somewhere that the real Miss Austen did meet the real Tom Lefroy -- McAvoy's character -- once. But there is no evidence that any part of the story is true, other than the circumstances of Austen's family. And since it is a well known fact that Jane Austen never married, I knew going in to the film that the romance wasn't going to end happily.
But that's okay, because Jane lives her short life on her own terms, and there's happiness in that, even if a few tears get jerked along the way.
Recent Comments