vernon film society
Bringing the best in world and Canadian film to film lovers of Vernon and the North Okanagan
BECOMING JANE
Director: Julian Jarrold
Cast: Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy, Julie Walters, Maggie Smith
Runtime: 120 minutes
Country: United Kingdom/USA
Language: English
Rating: PG (Nudity)
Reviews: www.metacritic.com/film/titles/becomingjane
Julian Jarrold, the acclaimed filmmaker behind the runaway hit KINKY BOOTS, is back in the director’s chair, taking on a thoroughly different – but equally entertaining – story. Starring the beguiling Anne Hathaway (THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN) as Jane Austen, BECOMING JANE offers a fascinating look at how first love inspired one of English literature’s most celebrated icons. This clever biographical portrait focuses on Jane at age twenty, before she found fame through her writing, and on a youthful romance she
had with a young Irish man. Set in Hampshire, England, around Christmas 1795, the film unfolds amid an English society obsessed with money and class. Jane’s parents, played by the venerable James Cromwell (L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, THE QUEEN) and Julie Walters (BILLY ELLIOTT, CALENDAR GIRLS), are kindly, patient and determined to find an appropriate match for their feisty youngest daughter – ideally the nephew of local aristocrat Lady Gresham (the fabulous Maggie Smith, GOSFORD PARK, HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE). Jane, however, is not interested in being “married off.” Then, her brother visits from London, accompanied by a young trainee lawyer, Tom Lefroy (James McAvoy, THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND, PENELOPE). Tom is rakish, intelligent, critical of simple country manners but also – horror of horrors – poor. Jane and Tom cross paths repeatedly, they match wits, they grate on each other’s nerves – and then they fall in love. They consider eloping but with the expectations and hopes of both families resting on their shoulders, the consequences could be dire. BECOMING JANE is a truly original biopic. The performance of an all-star cast and, in particular, Hathaway and McAvoy’s work as the spirited young lovers, promises to carry viewers into another time and place, into a story of grandeur, goodness and genius.
“If one were to fuse the literary sensibility of Jane Austen with the fanciful imaginative license of "Shakespeare in Love," what would emerge would likely be the charming tale “Becoming Jane”.” Claudia Puig, USA Today
“Instead of trying to make Austen's life entertaining by pretending it was just like her work - as in the dull recent French movie "Molière" - Becoming Jane has a more astute appreciation of how Austen, or any fiction writer, works. There's a bit of stealing from life, lots of exaggeration, some wish fulfillment, mix-and-match character assembly.” - Kyle Smith, New York Post
