Dear Friend,
Despite the graphic ("pilfered" from a very talented livejournal user, netherfield_x) displayed at the top of my blog for the past month, I had not seen Becoming Jane until this afternoon. My final verdict, it was OK.
The film had an OK cast, OK story, OK costumes, OK scenery, OK music, and was just OK. I didn't dislike the movie, mind you, I simply won't be running out to buy it the moment it hits DVD.
As the movie began and we met "Jane" I realized that, yes, I am officially sick of Anne Hathaway. There are other actresses in this world, especially ones with real British accents. She did fine as Jane, but I never forgot that I was watching Anne Hathaway. I can watch other actresses and forget them and focus on the character, but in this case I couldn't.
Then we meet "Tom LeFroy". I was reminded of Jess from Gilmore Girls more than I was reminded of any Austen heroes. I wasn't immediately smitten, which somehow I felt I ought to be. Maybe I'm wrong, thinking of the plot line and his later actions, maybe I was supposed to dislike him along with Jane. The only problem with that is that while the movie was trying to tell me that Jane was falling for him, I still felt mild annoyance with him. I honestly didn't like him until they met in the woods after they each were engaged to someone else. I didn't begin to think of "loving" (as in the sort of way I love my fictional heroes such as Darcy, Thornton, Tilney, etc.) the poor man until Jane left him for good.
This film really felt like a period drama by the numbers. I think the filmmakers wanted us to say, "Look, it's like Pride and Prejudice, and Sense and Sensibility and the other Austen novels!" when I was actually thinking, "Haven't they an original idea in their heads?" I probably would like this movie more the second time, but that won't come until the DVD.
Besides the wild speculation about an author's life, which is understandable since little is actually known about her, and the blatant "mistakes," writing Pride and Prejudice (at least they called it First Impressions) before anything else for example, it was a pleasant diversion.
I'll tell you the moment I started to really like this film. It proves that I'm somewhat shallow and slightly sentimental and possibly "mental" but I'll confess anyway. I actually liked Tom and therefore the rest of this movie afterwards when at home I found out James McAvoy played Mr. Tumnus. Dude! I love Mr. Tumnus! Yeah, my friend, Mr. Tumnus makes Becoming Jane better. At least for me he does.
