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Becoming Jane [2006]
from 2 Entertain Video
starring Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy, Julie Walters, James Cromwell, Maggie Smith

Features:

• PAL

Editorial Review:

Like Molière, which was released in cinemas soon after, Becoming Jane isn't a conventional biopic. Instead, Julian Jarrold (White Teeth) expands on events from Jane Austen's life that may have shaped her fiction. To his credit, he doesn't stray too far from the facts. In 1795, 20-year-old Jane (Anne Hathaway with believable British accent) is an aspiring author. Her parents (Julie Walters and James Cromwell) married for love, and money is tight. They hope to see their youngest daughter make a more lucrative match, and there's a besotted local, Mr. Wisley (Laurence Fox, son of actor James Fox), who would be happy to oblige. Unfortunately, Jane isn't interested. Then, she meets brash law student Tom (The Last King of Scotland's James McAvoy), while he's staying with relatives in rural Hampshire.

As in many Austen novels, it isn't love at first sight--but rather irritation. Just as affection begins to bloom, Tom has to return to London, and Wisley, whose financial prospects are superior, proposes. To complicate matters, Tom's uncle (Ian Richardson in his final performance) disapproves of the outspoken young lady just as much as Wisley's aunt (Maggie Smith, lending the proceedings some subtle humor). Had Austen penned the script, Tom and Wisley would be combined into one person, but life doesn't work that way--and nor does Becoming Jane. Though Jarrold's effort may not be as swoon-worthy as Joe Wright's Pride and Prejudice, it remains true to the spirit of the author's work. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0

• Worth watching
  This was much better than I thought it would be having read that the story didn't hold together and wasn't based on any real fact. If it was intended as a love story then it's ok. Are biographical films ever based truly on reality? Julie Walters is excellent as Jane's mother and thanks to another reviewer for mentioning where I'd seen Anne Hathaway before.
  I'm not keen on Jane Austen's novels (forced to read them at school), except perhaps, "Northanger Abbey", for which the recent TV adaptation was... more info

• Great
  OK, it's not an exact account of Austens life, but if you just look at it as a film, not a factual documenturey, it's a very good film, with a very touching ending. Lovely scenerey and the acting is very good. Especially from James McAvoy (plus his eyes are gorgeous all through it!). I'm a big fan of Austens work and I thought this was a great film, well worth a watch.

• Not as bad as some of the reviews... but not Jane Austen either
  This is a very odd film as it can't quite make up its mind whether it's a biography on the real Jane Austen or whether it's a compilation of her books, and the merging of the two as if everything she ever wrote was rooted in her own experience instead of in her imagination make it both plodding and quite dubious.
  As other reveiwers have said, too much of the plot, characters and scenes are lifted from the two most popular of her books due to film/TV versions (Pride & Prejudice, Sense &... more info

• Wrong, wrong, wrong
  
  While I am prepared to put aside the way this film "stretches" the truth about Austen's life (and looks), I cannot forgive the script. At times, it was quite dreadful - summed up by the moment when Laurence Fox casually slips "it is a truth universally acknowledged" into a conversation and Anne Hathaway's face lights up in a very hammy fashion. Absolutely risible.
  The direction is equally unsubtle. Possibly the worst moment is the hugely unconvincing ball scene where Hathaway and McAvoy overact... more info

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