Review of Becoming Jane (2007) by Bernadette S — 15 Oct 2009

Well with Jane Austen adaptations everywhere itâ??s about time somebody turned the focus on the woman herself. The problem with Austen is that her success was posthumous and detail surrounding her life is relatively limited meaning this dramatisation of a late teens romance becomes more a Mills & Boon tale than the formative and influential event the film tries to suggest it is.

Still, Anne Hathaway does a commendable job playing Austen and the story hints at the formation of Austenâ??s familiar literary characterisations. Sadly the great affair isnâ??t really given enough time to develop which is down to the relatively short timeframe in which it actually happened so to add dramatic weight thereâ??s a tagged on bit of manipulation at the end which almost worked due to Hathaway.

Oh, James McAvoy plays the bit-of-rough love interest.