Becoming Jane

I actually saw this in the theater! I guess that's obvious, given that it's just been released & limited at that. It was pretty much what I expected, so I wasn't disappointed. I've seen a lot of discussion on movie sites where people are complaining that it wasn't really biographical, but I had researched it beforehand & realized that while it was based on truth, the actual facts were embellished to make the story, much like Shakespeare in Love. If I wanted to see a biography, I'd check the listings for the Biography channel. I went to see this film with the notion that it was more of a story by Jane Austen than about her. The difference I expected was that there would be more Jane in the main character than in say Lizzie Bennet. It was like a lost Jane Austen Novel, the main difference being that there was no happy ending.

Since it was all i expected, I was not disappointed. I love the period costumes & sets, and most of all I am fascinated by the social decorum that was expected. I also was quite shocked to see make out scenes, as you don't find that in Jane Austen novels! I'm not quite sure how I feel about it, and I now doubt that they actually occurred. I'm not sure if any of Jane's primary characters would have done such a thing. Of course you always had the rebellious ones, like Lydia Bennett, and she probably would've made out with Wickham, but I don't believe even Marianne Dashwood would have done that.

There is also controversy over whether and American should've been cast as a famous British author, but this doesn't bother me. Gwyneth Paltrow does it, Renee Zellweger can pull it off, so why not? We have Hugh Laurie on House. I would imagine that even a British actress would have had to study to get the dialect of the period to sound accurate. I thought that Anne Hathaway was fine in the role. More than fine actually, i found her quite convincing. James McAvoy was outstanding, in my opinion. From the moment he came onscreen I knew that she would have a hard time resisting him!

I would recommend this movie to anyone who can't get enough Jane Austen, and is not expecting a purely factual story, as I'm sure that wouldn't be very interesting. I will buy the DVD as soon as it is released and probably watch it again and again!