Becoming Jane
Miramax Films
Rated PG
Now Showing at: several major theaters.
Review by: Larry Thomas

Jane Austen, the daughter of a poor country clergyman, managed to write some of the most revered novels in English literature during her brief forty-one years on earth. Her use of characters, dialogue, and irony were integral in making "Pride and Prejudice," "Sense and Sensibility," "Persuasion," and others the literary sensations of their day. They not only laid the groundwork for the romance novel industry, but have also spawned films of virtually all her writings.

Becoming Jane is the film representation of Jane Austen's life. Portrayed by Brooklyn's Anne Hathaway, the actress does well by her subject, affecting a believable British accent, and being quite comfortable in the role. Austen is pictured as a freethinking, self-sufficient woman who is quite ahead of her time. If the film's script is rooted in truth, without allowing too much "dramatic license," then Jane Austen should have had quite an interesting life and career.

Unfortunately, the filmmakers have managed to turn this saga into a stodgy, almost boring film. Characters are uninteresting, dialogue is flat, and the action crawls at a snail's pace. Even usually fine supporting performers like Julie Walters and James Cromwell as Austen's parents, and legendary Maggie Smith as the redoubtable dowager with a nephew who's interested in marriage, seem to sleepwalk through their roles.

The director, Julian Jarrold, and many of the cast and crew came to Becoming Jane from British series television. And, indeed, Becoming Jane seems much like two episodes of "Masterpiece Theatre" strung together to justify its exposure on the big screen. Perhaps it will fare better on DVD, so that it can be watched in the style of a television series.

Scottish actor James McAvoy, who was so good as the title character in The Last King of Scotland, and as Mr. Tumnus, the Faun, in The Chronicles of Narnia, is acceptable in his role…what there is of it. Granted, it's not his story, but if the character was that important to Austen, he should have resonated with emotion, instead of just "being there."

The one real find in the film is Lucy Cohu as a French countess, an Austen cousin, who has eyes for the family's younger. She is warm, wise, beautiful and quite everything a character in a film like this should be.

Most of the film deals with Jane Austen's coming-of-age just prior to her fame as an author…her family life, love found and lost, several suitors, and striking the right balance between being a proper Briton of the times, and being her own woman in charge of her destiny.

Becoming Jane looks good, with proper attention paid to costumes, settings, photography and lighting. As with several other British films of late, much of the dialogue is mumbled with such a thick accent as to render it unintelligible. In many scenes, subtitles would be an asset.

There have been many fine film versions of Jane Austen novels…Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, to name just three, and even contemporary adaptations such as Clueless. All are worth a viewing, and are readily available on DVD.

Perhaps instead of wading through this muddle of a film, spend your time reading a biography of Jane Austen, or reading one, if not all, of her books.