TJABC Clips and Review Roundup: We Wub Geeks Edition
We saw The Jane Austen Book Club tonight and really loved it! Even more than we had hoped! Hugh Dancy is the most adorable geek ever and we want to give him many long hugs and show him our handbag full of cool geek gadgets like Enrico the Treo over there, and maybe even read some Ursula K. LeGuin. Full review to come, possibly by the weekend. In the meantime, there are two clips left…and a bonus!
In which Grigg compares and contrasts Mansfield Park with The Empire Strikes Back, earning our eternal geek wub. (AND he has R2D2 on his ring tone!!!!)
Prudie has a breakdown at the library dinner
Those are the last of our clips, but Alert Janeite Robyn found two more!
Speaking of the delightful Mr. Dancy, the Boston Herald talks to him about the film:
There’s something else uncommon about the film: “It is a kind of advertisement for reading, which is something that you don’t often see in a movie. I appreciate that as a fairly avid reader.”
Lovely! And pray note the caption of the photo. Tee-hee! Bet he gets that a lot.
James Berardinelli doesn’t think the film properly reflects Jane Austen’s work.
The Jane Austen Book Club is an example of how a movie can follow the general plot of a book yet fail to capture the spirit. The problem is a simple one to identify: much of the enjoyment derived from Karen Joy Fowler’s novel comes from the way in which it is written, and the manner in which she interweaves subtle references and asides to Austen.
They’re still there, but admittedly the film is not as rich in these references as the novel, but in some cases new ones have been brought in–for instance, when “Mr. Knightley” gives “Emma” a stern talking-to.
Lexi Feinberg at Big Picture Big Sound liked it.
You don’t have to be an Austen junkie or even a woman to enjoy this endlessly charming film about six people launching a book club to discuss Jane’s six novels in six different locations.
We would think Dorothy might be moonlighting at afterellen.com except for the candle she lights daily in front of her Richard Armitage shrine–but really, Dorothy Snarker would be the perfect nom de plume, n’est-ce pas? (Sorry, channeling Prudie for a minute there)
For a woman with such a blandly generic first name, Jane Austen has had a uniquely enduring impact on popular culture. Nearly 200 years after her last work was published posthumously, Austen continues to influence art, literature and, increasingly, film.
Definitely not our Dorothy.
Edward Douglas at comingsoon.net misses the point:
Even so, the film’s insistent claim that Jane Austen can bring dysfunctional couples together and cure all their woes is so incredible that it’s hard not to smirk through most of the last act.
It’s not Jane Austen who does the curing and the togethering: it’s the members of the book club themselves, perhaps influenced by the novels, or at least using them as an emotional touchstone as they go through their own travails. Because the movie that did claim such a thing would suck, yes.
And we’re a little astonished to see that Maria Bello doesn’t like Jane Austen’s novels! She sure faked it well enough. We hope she tries them again after making this film.
September 20th, 2007 at 1:37 am
I can’t wait to see it! Grigg was my favorite character from the book; I really enjoy how he looks in the trailer & clips! The movie’s official opening is on my birthday, so I will be going to see it with my boyfriend. (He is also a huge Jane Austen fan.)
September 20th, 2007 at 2:39 am
Just one question. If you disliked the book, so much as I did (I didn’t read since page 60), is the movie a good thing? is it an amusement? Because, as I tried the book and I couldn’t, and books are usually better than movies, I fear I won’t like TJABC.
September 20th, 2007 at 2:43 am
Just so you know, the clips Sense vs Sensibility and Donut Grease cannot be watched outside the USA. I got an error ” we’re sorry, the clip you’re trying to play is not available in our area “.
September 20th, 2007 at 7:39 am
Now I really can’t wait to see the film. As usual, Richmond will be among the last cities to be on the distribution list.
September 20th, 2007 at 11:08 am
I couldn’t watch the clips either, and that’s such a pity, because I know Hugh Dancy is in them. I saw screencaps of the clips (I hope I don’t sound too obsessed now…
). Glad you liked the film (and Hugh!) Mags. 
Btw, did you know Hugh Dancy studied English literature at Oxford University?
September 20th, 2007 at 12:01 pm
I saw it last night (thanks, Editrix!) and really loved it. It was a lot of laughs, too. As Mags said, “finally, a Janeite movie that didn’t forget to have humor!”
I might write more later about it, but I would definitely assure any fan of Dancy the Delicious that they will be 110% happy with it. He is utterly adorable, gets handsomer as the film goes on, and gets to do a few hilarious bits of slapstick, generating most of the really big laughs in the film.
True, the Editrix and I would have preferred to see at least an hour of the film devoted to Grigg expounding on Northanger Abbey and Mysteries of Udolpho, but the film made it up to her (but not entirely to me) by having her beloved Jimmy Smits discuss Persuasion.
It was a pretty good adaptation, IMO. I thought the book, depending so much on switching narrators and POV’s, would be tough to translate to the screen without just turning it into a soaper, but the screenplay and direction did a pretty good job for the most part. Some things were changed, some were added (and I did like the Knightly/Emma moment A LOT), but I felt it was true to the feel of the novel and should satisfy most people who enjoyed the book.
Not sure how much it will appeal to anyone who didn’t like the book, though.
September 20th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
“As usual, Richmond will be among the last cities to be on the distribution list.”
And Lynchburg will be 3 weeks after Richmond.
September 20th, 2007 at 8:20 pm
I love the look of it–a movie about reading, in addition about reading and discussing Jane Austen! I like how they argue about the characters (Fanny is/is not boring, Mr. Knightley was/was not in love with Emma…)
September 20th, 2007 at 11:08 pm
Apologies–I spent a bit more time on the site looking at recent comments and realized there was already a poster here using Karen L.
Sorry! The above post 6 was written by me, not the “real” Karen L. I’ll use surreyhill in the future.
September 21st, 2007 at 3:55 am
There’s an interview with Hugh Dancy in The Independant, in which he talks about about TJABC and Grigg:
)
http://arts.independent.co.uk/film/features/article2980150.ece#2007-09-20T00:00:01-00:00 (it’s a bit at the end, scroll down to read it!
September 21st, 2007 at 4:15 am
Oh my I keep reading interesting articles about this movie!Here’s another one, about the casting of the guys in this movie: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-wk-movies20sep20,0,2996403.story
This part especially made my day:
“A longtime fan of Austen — he admits to reading “Pride and Prejudice” more than once — Dancy says that any man who thinks her novels are only for women simply hasn’t read them. “She blends incredibly well the feeling of what women and men are like and the feeling of what women and men would like each other to be,” he says.” I think that’s very well said!
September 21st, 2007 at 8:07 am
Sorry, I didn’t know the clips weren’t viewable outside the U.S. (might be outside North America). I didn’t mean to tease!
September 21st, 2007 at 9:59 am
Surreyhill, I do apppreciate the clarification - thought I was losing my mind for a moment since I agree with your review but didn’t remember writing one!
September 21st, 2007 at 11:29 am
I absolutely cannot wait to see the film. =) Has anyone else read the Roger Ebert review of the film? It is simply wonderful! Very well written and insightful about Austen and her fans.
September 21st, 2007 at 5:13 pm
You can find most of the clips Mags provided on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/user/hughdancyinfo
September 21st, 2007 at 10:48 pm
Just wanted to chime in to say that I think that this film should do well with Austen fans. The movie was charming, and the audience I watched it with enjoyed it a lot. I’ll be getting the DVD when it’s out.
It really helps to know the novels well too; I’m actually a little worried about how it’s going to do box-office wise. I’m not sure a general audience will get as much out of it as Austen fans will.
September 22nd, 2007 at 10:42 am
One question about Ebert’s review…and I’ve seen this same line show up in a couple of other reviews which almost makes me feel like they watch they’re all cribbing from the same set of notes…is Allegra REALLY closeted from her mother?
Because that was totally not my impression of either film or book–by the time these book club events took place I got the idea that she was “out” to the whole world, including her very accepting parents and that she discussed her relationships with her mom.
What was closeted about Allegra was that she didn’t want her parents to know about the extreme sports she was trying (and injuring herself doing).
Am I NUTS?
Otherwise, I agree–great review from Roger. I have one, too, but am waiting for the Editrix to go first.
September 22nd, 2007 at 10:57 am
Thanks for your opinion about book and movie…I will try to see the movie and stay more than 15 minutes
September 22nd, 2007 at 6:11 pm
Allegra closeted? The first line out of her mouth in this movie is about being a lesbian. Certainly the book makes it very very clear that her mother knows because Fowler writes that Jocelyn kept trying to introduce Allegra to men, and Sylvia finally pulls Jocelyn aside and pulls off the blinders, telling her to knock it off. After that, Jocelyn tries fixing Allegra up with women. I thought Ebert was in fact referring to Allegra’s interest in risky sports being kept from her parents.
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:45 pm
Here’s the direct quote from Ebert’s review:
“Sylvia’s lesbian daughter Allegra (Maggie Grace), also has a romantic crisis going and is closeted from her mother, though not from us.”
Doesn’t sound like skydiving to me.
September 24th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
Well, that’s just wrong.
September 25th, 2007 at 10:32 am
Saw the movie at a film festival. While certain Austenian themes and backdrop are placed in the book/movie, I can’t say it’s anywhere close to genuine Austen style. Of course, that may not be Fowler’s intent, to emulate Austen. But for some reason, I had a hard time going through the book or trying to like the movie.