Review of Austenland (2013) by Mbeitiks — 21 Jan 2014
Yes, you should be familiar with Jane Austen works. But what you really need to appreciate in this hilarious movie is an appreciation for deliberately bad acting. In a world where everyone attempts to 'perform' Austen's refined world, the results are awkward, goofy and slaptstick-- hilarious.
The novels of Austen's time are labyrinths of subtlety: the tension in the theme park is between modern, real-world directness and our idea of what that refined subtlety was like. Especially hilarious are the lady guests' attempts to entertain themselves without modern distractions like movies and the internet: needlepoint and novel-reading take on new meaning.
Keri Russell's character spends the entire movie attempting to navigate this space between the real and the performed, to the point where it becomes impossible to discern what is real, and what is Austenland.
Completely hilarious and not to be missed, especially for Austen fans.
This review of Austenland (2013) was written by Mbeitiks on 21 Jan 2014.
Austenland has generally received mixed reviews.
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