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Becoming Jane movie review |
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Written by Roger Moore, MCT
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Monday, 30 July 2007 |
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BECOMING JANE
4 stars (out of 5)
Cast: Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy, Julie Walters, James Cromwell, Maggie Smith, Ian Richardson
Director: Julian Jarrold
Running time: 2 hours
Industry rating: PG for brief nudity and mild language
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"Will all your stories have happy endings?" a suitor inquires of young writer-to-be Jane Austen in Becoming Jane.
Of course we know the answer. Pretty much so, yes, with weddings and young ladies of "no money, no importance" marrying well by the final page.
But that was the fantasy that Jane Austen (Anne Hathaway) created for her world. A pretty young woman of no property and few prospects in early 19th-century Britain, she went on to write half a dozen of the finest novels ever written in English - lovely, aching, witty romances full of agonizing longing, class consciousness and withering put-downs.
And she couldn't have done it without that one heartbreak she had on her way to "Becoming Jane."
Anne Hathaway stars as the youngest daughter of a parson (James Cromwell) and his worrywart wife (Julie Walters). She has an older brother in the army and an older sister (Anna Maxwell Martin) engaged to an army chaplain.
The Austens of Hampshire are people of quality, not cash.
That's why Jane's prospect, the only heir (Laurence Fox) to wealthy Lady Gresham (Maggie Smith, of course), holds such promise. To her mother, that is.
"The man's a booby," Dad whispers. Jane agrees.
"You know our situation, Jane," her mother hisses.
The girl still wants to marry for love.
Enter the dashing rogue. Tom Lefroy (James McAvoy of "Last King of Scotland," here with a Hugh Grant moptop), has been wenching, brawling and gambling too much in the city. His uncle (the late, great Ian Richardson, in his final screen performance) sentences the lad to the country.
Where he insults Jane and her writing. And she insults him back. They are, any Austen fan will tell you, "doomed" to fall in love.
If you know Austen, from the page or the screen, you'll recognize situations, characters, the fertile ground from whence "Sense & Sensibility," "Emma," "Pride & Prejudice" and "Persuasion" sprang.
Since all of the Austen novels have enjoyed BBC, PBS and big-screen treatments in recent years, a Jane Austen biography is a logical place for Hollywood to go to mine more gold from this queen of the costume picture. And Hathaway, who graduated from Disney princess movies to solid supporting work in "The Devil Wears Prada" and "Brokeback Mountain," is a logical choice to play Austen. She even looks a little like her.
Julian Jarrold ("Kinky Boots") hasn't made a film that's up to the very best Austen adaptations. But the script's lively, modern points of departure give it a few surprises. Jane is ready to support herself with her writing, if need be, knowing how that will be frowned upon in society. A girl who picks up a cricket bat to defend the family honor and humble her nemesis wouldn't care.
The sense of place and the moral and social restraints of the day are as clear as any Austen novel. Hathaway makes a fine Austen heroine, though she doesn't have the testy spark that Keira Knightley brought to the most reason version of Elizabeth Bennett, the Austen-like character from "Pride & Prejudice." The romance has the pallor of doom about it, which is just as well, as Hathaway and McAvoy set off sparks in only a couple of scenes.
But relish the moments when the unworldly Jane is introduced to the rougher, wider world by having Henry Fielding's bawdy novel, "Tom Jones," thrust in her hand by the randy Lefoy.
Enjoy the other facts of life that Jane learns - "Affection is desirable, money is absolutely indispensable." "Portable property is happiness in a pocket book."
And celebrate the glories of British character actors, especially Richardson, whose visage always suggested a scathing insult about to be hurled. When he calls Jane "a penniless little husband hunter," it hurts her and us.
Great art, the cliche goes, emerges from great suffering, so even if you don't know Austen's life story, you have an idea what to expect. And if you know her timeless novels and the glorious films made from them, it's great to get a sense of what shaped her, of what made Jane so becoming. | Only registered users can write comments.
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