The Jane Austen Book Club

Starring: Maria Bello, Hugh Dancy, Emily Blunt, Amy Brennamen
Directed by: Robin Swicord

There's one thing that this movie proved to me big time – Jane Austen is here to say. Two years ago it was Keira Knightley and her version of Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice and in 2007 there are two big time chick flicks making the news – The Jane Austen Diaries and Becoming Jane. I bet Jane Austen would kill to be alive right now!

This is the kind of movie which will or would have made it big due to women and Jane Austen fans. Luckily for the movie makers there are plenty of both kinds to make some big money! Jane Austen's work stays current because she wrote about timeless themes – how do you choose the best person to marry? Is love enough, or even required for lifelong contentment? How do you deal with difficult or embarrassing family members?

How best to handle a family crisis? How do you learn to tell true friends and quality persons from those who are perhaps flashy and amusing, but will end up betraying your friendship and trust or, heaven forfend, tempting you to abandon your own principles? Whether you live in the age of Blackberries and Hybrid SUV's, or the age of sealing wax and barouches, every person comes smack up against many or most of these vexing problems throughout their lives.

The conceit of this movie and the book it is based upon is that a shared love and appreciation of the works of Jane Austen can provide the currency through the exchange of which modern women (and a few selected men) can confront, share, and come to better understand their personal challenges and in the process, form bonds of friendship or even romance. The strength of this movie is that even if you have a tough time with that conceit, you will still enjoy the humor of it, and the strong performances.

It's pleasant to watch, like curling up with a favorite book and a frothy cup of chocolate. It is true to Jane – no explosions, the villains aren't completely evil, the primary problems of the characters stem from incomplete or willfully-faulty understanding of themselves and those around them, there is no melodrama or Gothic touches except of the parody sort, and the lone death happens off screen.

I liked the fact that the movie concentrated on Austen's other books and I believe succeed in telling the world that there is more to Jane Austen than just Darcy, the smoldering hunk of tightly-controlled passion and Lizzie, the spirited and intelligent a heroine in Pride and Prejudice. There was more focus on Persuasion and Northanger Abbey, her lesser known novels which merit reading.

The cast was an interesting choice and I believe well suited for the purpose. Maria Bello who last inhabited this column for her witty pro alcoholic stance in Thank you for Smoking was a fantastic choice and Hugh Dancy who played opposite her successfully created the most unexpected pairing for the movie. I last saw him in that teenie bopper movie – Ella Enchanted and I must admit the guy has grown!

I have to be truthful and admit that the movie is a tad unrealistic and not the kind of DVD you should be investing hard earned cash on, but it's a nice sort of movie for the weather we are presently stuck with!

He said/She said: All Jane Austen, all the time. It's the perfect antidote. To life…
Watch it if you liked: The Notebook
Movie Hall of Fame: No
Tagline: You don't have to know the books to be in the club.