Captain's Log, Stardate 05.21.2008
I’m catching a cold, so I took time off from writing my proposal to watch the movie, Becoming Jane with Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy.
It was ... okay.
James McAvoy is my new favorite actor. Oh my gosh he was so good. So charming, so intense, so handsome.
Anne Hathaway was good, as usual. My problem was her lines. I think the writer failed Jane Austen in the dialogue.
In Miss Austen Regrets, the dialogue fitted Jane Austen to a T. The character spoke the way Jane wrote in her letters and her books.
In Becoming Jane, where was the biting wit, the quirky observances, the understated irony? Anne Hathaway had all these earnest lines. All this drama and romance.
In reading her writing, I thought Jane always came across as a bit cynical. Maybe it’s just my perception, and really, a writer can’t be understood only from her written word, much less her fictional works.
But Jane’s character came alive for me in Miss Austen Regrets (although I have to admit some parts of that were a bit more melodramatic than I think Jane’s real life character was). In Becoming Jane, it was a nice, entertaining story about a heroine named Jane.
Now, I know tons of you have seen this movie and loved it. So speak up! What did you like or didn't like about it?
I’m catching a cold, so I took time off from writing my proposal to watch the movie, Becoming Jane with Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy.It was ... okay.
James McAvoy is my new favorite actor. Oh my gosh he was so good. So charming, so intense, so handsome.Anne Hathaway was good, as usual. My problem was her lines. I think the writer failed Jane Austen in the dialogue.
In Miss Austen Regrets, the dialogue fitted Jane Austen to a T. The character spoke the way Jane wrote in her letters and her books.
In Becoming Jane, where was the biting wit, the quirky observances, the understated irony? Anne Hathaway had all these earnest lines. All this drama and romance.
In reading her writing, I thought Jane always came across as a bit cynical. Maybe it’s just my perception, and really, a writer can’t be understood only from her written word, much less her fictional works.
But Jane’s character came alive for me in Miss Austen Regrets (although I have to admit some parts of that were a bit more melodramatic than I think Jane’s real life character was). In Becoming Jane, it was a nice, entertaining story about a heroine named Jane.
Now, I know tons of you have seen this movie and loved it. So speak up! What did you like or didn't like about it?
Comments
My main problem (out of many) with the film is that I couldn't understand why anyone---let alone Jane Austen---would fall in love with someone who treated her the way the character of Tom Lefroy did in this movie. But, then again, I've never been attracted to the bad-boy hero anyway.
My other main problem (told ya there were many) was the casting of Anne Hathaway as Jane Austen. With all of the wonderful young British actresses out there---including Anna Maxwell Martin, whose talents were totally wasted in the role of Cassandra---it's a travesty to me that an American who can't even do a decent British accent was cast in the role as the quintessential British romance novelist.
Coming down off my soapbox now . . . :-)
Shelley--It actually IS very slow moving. The opening 10 minutes almost killed me, just to warn you.
Kaye--I agree, Anne's accent faltered too many times not to notice. And I'm totally with you on Anna Maxwell Martin, I think she's brilliant! I liked Anne Hathaway for purely selfish reasons--because she looked the way I'd have liked Jane to look, in a romanticized way of my own making.
Melinda--I read that they deliberately dressed Jane in clothes 20 years before the time of the movie (she was in Regency dress versus late Georgian dress) in order to help her readers relate to her more and make her stand out, since her characters wore clothes of that era. I don't quite agree, but at least they had a reason for it.
Camy
The character that stood out the most to me was Wesley - he was soooo boring. It made that whole arranged marriage dilemma that much stronger.
Camy