Movie Review: Jane Austen Book Club

Saturday, I had planned on seeing the free concert of Hair in Central Park to mark the 40th anniversary of it's premiere at the Public Theater downtown. Unfortunately when I got to the Park to stand on line for tickets, I discovered that pretty much everyone else in the city had the same idea.

So I moseyed on downtown to the Public to try there, since the lines are usually shorter. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I had barely gotten on line before we were told that there were no more tickets. Apparently, a lot of people took the Public up on their offer of spending $100 and you get one free ticket to Hair, which I didn't do, because that sort of screws up the notion of free!

So I headed up to the Strand bookstore to look for some books for research purposes for my other blog Scandalous Women when it started to pour. It was pretty disgusting, so I took myself off to the movies instead. Choosing The Jane Austen Book Club was a no brainer. I had read the book when it first came out and I'd heard good things over at the Austen Blog. It seemed the perfect antidote to the weather.

I have to say that I flat out enjoyed this film. It's a really feed good movie about women's friendships, love, and most of all the joys of reading seen through the prism of reading Jane's books. The performances were spot on, particularly Emily Blunt who plays a character who is the complete anthithesis of her character in The Devil Wear's Prada. The only thing I missed with her character was why she was married to her husband, and a little more background with her mother, played by the divine Lynn Redgrave, who gives a memorable performance even with the few lines she's given.

The relationship with Jocelyn and Griggs was very interesting. I enjoyed the way, he slowly but surely wore her down. I'm in similar situation right now, so I could instantly relate to his frustration, sort of like Colonel Brandon's frustration at getting Marianne to see him as a viable suitor. Who would have thought a movie about characters discussing Jane Austen could be so interesting? It instantly made me want to go out and read all six books and watch the movies all over again!

And can I just say that Jimmy Smits is still amazingly gorgeous even going into his sixth decade. I may have to watch Cane just to see him. Maggie Grace, who I never watched on Lost, plays Sylvia's daughter, who is gay and seems to embody the Marianne character of being open to loving, but just as easily to discard when the relationship hits its first bump.

Yes, the movie is very fluffy, what on a rainy afternoon, it was exactly the movie I needed to lift my spirits, although the Brad Pitt Jessie James movie probably suited the weather more.

Definitely a B+ in my book.

EKM