Becoming Jane (2007)

Directed By: Julian Jarrold
Cast: Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy, Julie Walters, Maggie Smith, James Cromwell, Joe Anderson, Lucy Cohu, Laurence Fox, Ian Richardson, Anna Maxwell Martin,
Released 09/03/2007

Where does one start. I’m not a huge Jane Austen fan, I haven’t even read any of her books but I have seen, thanks in most part to my Dad, Pride and Predjudice countless times and am of the strong opinion that it is not only the best Austen adaptation but also one of British Drama television’s greatest accomplishments. And so, the author of some of the finest novels of all time. Britain’s greatest female novelist has become the subject of her own autobiography. And yet the film is nothing more than a mediocre, even crass reworking of her most famous novel. The question I was left with was why. Why take a historical icon such as Jane Austin and reduce her life to nothing more than a poor imitation of one of her greatest characters. If Austin’s characterisation shared some of the qualities that Austin’s characters did then this might have been a stronger effort from director Jarrold. As it is, no stereotype is missing. The characters are paper thin in terms of development and ironically it’s the other couples such as Austin’s Brother Henry and his love affair with Eliza De Feuillide and perhaps more poignantly the love of her sister Cassandra who is engaged when her fiancé goes off to war, only to hear that he has died whilst away. These scenes coincide with Austin’s own low moment, like a classical narrative film.

The problems arise immediately; Anne Hathaway has the look you would almost definitely associate with Jane Austin but lack the dramatic weight to bring Austin to life. Instead she comes across as nothing more than an opinionated woman, without any real confidence, wit or intelligence most clearly represented in her novels. Then we have some half baked stereotypical characters which again look as if there understudy’s to Pride and Predjudice. This is such a devastating attempt to instil the qualities of her work in her life story that they miss out the aspects of Austin that fans of her work will crave. Besides a few key scenes which see her scribbling away we nothing of her writing except the insulting argument put forward by this film that she has to fall in love before she can fulfil her potential and write a great book. Ironically enough in her wooing she is taken to meet Ann Radcliffe an authoress who managed to write incredible books using only her imagination. Not something that Jane Austin could ever possibly have the ability to do.

James McAvoy has gone someway to dent the reputation he has built up over the past few years as an aspiring young actor with genuine talent and good looks to match. With Atonement out later this year one wonders if he has the acting chops to give gravitas to a period performance because nothing here so much as indicates he does. I find it deeply disappointing when a potential great actor falls flat on his face but McAvoy deserves little to no credit. During the inevitable declaration of love scene, the performances are so excruciatingly cringe worthy that there only redeeming feature is the fact that they arte shot in the shadows obscuring their faces. On another more upbeat note, James Cromwell and Julie Walters struggle with so little material but do a great job giving the Austin family a rooted basis, and more importantly shed light of the lives of family such as hers during that period of history. Austin herself is more concerned with love than the social construct of which she is part.
So to does Maggie Smith give a commendable performance but when your dealing with such poorly crafted characters aimed to appeal to the generation who are all too familiar with Austin’s work and so will recognise the characters she does little to stand out. Ultimately Julian Jarrold has made such a monumental success that it has almost tainted Austin’s reputation, but not quite.

The film is adequately shot and makes great use of the locations and perhaps the most commendable aspect of the film is Adrian Johnston’s original score. A sumptuous and elegant score which deserves to be in a much better film.

Becoming Jane is a poor rip off of what made Jane Austin so enduring and beautiful. Where a strong character driven melodrama about the life of perhaps Britain’s most interesting female author who wrote at a time when such a thing was scandalous would have made for a great film about the strength and determination of a women imbued with genius and a great examination of the period. Instead we get an awful attempt to regurgitate everything Jane did so well but with an aim squarely at those people with less intellect than Mr Collins . Stay home and watch the BBC adaptation and save yourself the pain of sitting through this dire attempt at drama.