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REVIEWS OF THE DUCHESS: BECOMING JANE
well. it's a good chick-flick, and good enough for those who can't get enough of regency period romances that put, in their center, a head-strong girl who both fights her place in society and has the strength to stand up when she must succumb to it. it's "loosely based on facts" about jane's life...VERY loosely. and the screenwriter did their best job at creating an austean story, a la tom stoppard and "shakespeare in love," albeit this one with a touch more truth.
however. it loses its austean truth under a bunch of silly modern romantic convention and the inconsistent acting style of anne hathaway. why? why couldn't they find a nice british girl to play the role? everyone else is from the aisles. and everyone else makes anne look like a novice. james macavoy is amazingly wonderful--as he always is--and has become my new celebrity crush. and anna maxwell martin ("bleak house"'s esther) is absolutely resplendent as her sister cassandra. julie walters and james cromwell as her parents are a great choice. but putting everything on anne is a mistake.
as is centering everything around her character. this is what i mean by modern conventions. one of my favorite things about austen's novels is her focus on constant characters, the foibles of society, the silliness in the haughty people around her. sadly, in the film, you only get to see this in maggie smith, who plays the "lady" of the village, and is sorely underused. other than that, jane comes off as a mary sue; perfect and without interesting qualities, and tom (macavoy) is a modern, watered-down darcy.
but, then again, this is hollywood we're talking about. well. ifc. but they can be as bad as their american counterparts sometimes.
on a more personal note, there were parts of this that are hard to watch. if you didn't know, jane austen never married, so this is a tale of very bittersweet love-and-loss, which the boy and i both have our own secret histories with. it is tough being reminded that "love the one you're with" has some truth....
anyway. it's a fun movie for watching. just don't expect anything over beautiful regency fluff.
well. it's a good chick-flick, and good enough for those who can't get enough of regency period romances that put, in their center, a head-strong girl who both fights her place in society and has the strength to stand up when she must succumb to it. it's "loosely based on facts" about jane's life...VERY loosely. and the screenwriter did their best job at creating an austean story, a la tom stoppard and "shakespeare in love," albeit this one with a touch more truth.
however. it loses its austean truth under a bunch of silly modern romantic convention and the inconsistent acting style of anne hathaway. why? why couldn't they find a nice british girl to play the role? everyone else is from the aisles. and everyone else makes anne look like a novice. james macavoy is amazingly wonderful--as he always is--and has become my new celebrity crush. and anna maxwell martin ("bleak house"'s esther) is absolutely resplendent as her sister cassandra. julie walters and james cromwell as her parents are a great choice. but putting everything on anne is a mistake.
as is centering everything around her character. this is what i mean by modern conventions. one of my favorite things about austen's novels is her focus on constant characters, the foibles of society, the silliness in the haughty people around her. sadly, in the film, you only get to see this in maggie smith, who plays the "lady" of the village, and is sorely underused. other than that, jane comes off as a mary sue; perfect and without interesting qualities, and tom (macavoy) is a modern, watered-down darcy.
but, then again, this is hollywood we're talking about. well. ifc. but they can be as bad as their american counterparts sometimes.
on a more personal note, there were parts of this that are hard to watch. if you didn't know, jane austen never married, so this is a tale of very bittersweet love-and-loss, which the boy and i both have our own secret histories with. it is tough being reminded that "love the one you're with" has some truth....
anyway. it's a fun movie for watching. just don't expect anything over beautiful regency fluff.
