Movie #64 - Becoming Jane

Becoming Jane
Miramax Films
2007 - Rated PG - 2 hr
Director: Julian Jarrold
Starring: Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy, Julie Walters, James Cromwell, Maggie Smith

Okay, guys. Make fun of me all you want, but I love Jane Austen. As the mother of women's fiction, she stands alone as a pioneer of her day. She has captivated generations of readers with her heartwarming stories, all complete with a happy ending, and her works remain among the greatest classic works ever written.

But it seems that one can't write such compelling tales about love unless she herself has had her heart shattered at least once. In Becoming Jane, we spend some time getting to know and love the "real" Jane Austen. And even though you may know the ending, and the sad fact that she lived and died a spinster, you can't help cheering for her to end up with James McAvoy's character.

Anne Hathaway is brilliant and the script outstanding. These period pieces can sometimes drag and lull, until you want to doze off, but Becoming Jane is well paced and brings you a historical personage without any of the drabness you might expect. I love watching this movie again and again, and not because it's about Jane Austen.

But if you're not a fan of her work, don't worry. Her writing life is very much a background feature of this film, and you won't be bored with long excerpts read here and there. It's clear the writing is important to her, but it's never allowed to take the central focus away from her charming personality and sad love story.

She gets her own happy ending, in a way, but you come to care for her so much by the end of this movie, you can't help wishing she got all her heart desired.