Becoming Jane Review
By Jesse Hassenger
But that's just the problem: These actresses have to wait ages between actual roles, biding their time with supporting roles that might as well have them standing in a pasture. So in Becoming Jane we're treated to Smith doing her umpteenth haughty old bat and Walters overplaying another frazzled mum figure. If we're still supposed to find this shtick delightful, I suggest the British Film Board start scouring actual retirement homes for some fresh blood.
Alongside veteran scenery-chewers (Walters plays Jane's mother while Smith plays a more direct antagonist), Hathaway takes a more studied approach, sporting a crisp accent, teacher's-pet diction, and a vaguely humorless purity. She's not a bad actress, but her performance is too respectful by half, as if she must tread carefully when playing a mostly-fictionalized version of the author.
The whole film has more respect than brains or charm; it tells the at least partially fabricated story of Austen's first love, which may have inspired her work in, apparently, the most obvious and contrived ways possible. As young Jane is irritated by, and then smitten with, roguish suitor Tom Lefroy (James McAvoy), she learns more about the harsh realities of class lines, struggling for the opportunity to live on her own, marry for love if at all, and concentrate on her writing.
Of course, this is one of those movies about creative people that assumes that a vital ingredient in the creative process is literal transcriptions from the creator's own life. This wouldn't be a problem if the movie were a bit more playful, but it hits all of the expected notes without much urgency or invention, like a spiritless cover of Shakespeare in Love. The screenplay doesn't explore Austen's timeless themes so much as innumerate them; the film takes less from the depth of Austen's work and more from the familiar rhythms of its countless imitations. It only achieves some dramatic tension when, towards the end, the focus shifts to the messier deviations in Austen's (fictionalized) real life.
Hathaway and McAvoy are easy on the eyes and Becoming Jane is, admittedly, an attractive film to match its appealing leads. Director Julian Jarrold previously made the forgettable Brit-com Kinky Boots with similar smooth professionalism. But absent consistent sparks from the writing or performances, his shot choices -- handheld bits, wide shots of gorgeous scenery, expressive close-ups -- start to feel mechanical. His film is pleasant, inoffensive, and a little depressing to watch -- in other words, the cinematic equivalent of a nice retirement facility.
I'd kill for a gin and tonic.

Facts and Figures
Year: 2007
In Theaters: Friday 10th August 2007
Box Office USA: $18.6M
Budget: $12M
Distributed by: Miramax Films
Production compaines: Ecosse Films, 2 Entertain, Bueprint Pictures
Reviews
Contactmusic.com: 2 / 5
Rotten Tomatoes: 57%
Fresh: 78 Rotten: 59
IMDB: 7.1 / 10
Cast & Crew
Director: Julian Jarrold
Producer: Robert Bernstein, Graham Broadbent, Douglas Rae
Screenwriter: Kevin Hood, Sarah Williams
Starring: Anne Hathaway as Jane Austen, James McAvoy as Tom Lefroy, Julie Walters as Mrs. Austen, James Cromwell as Mr. Austen, Maggie Smith as Lady Gresham, Joe Anderson as Henry Austen, Lucy Cohu as Eliza de Feuillide, Laurence Fox as Mr. Wisley, Ian Richardson as Richter Langlois, Anna Maxwell Martin as Cassandra Austen, Leo Bill as John Warren, Jessica Ashworth as Lucy Lefroy, Michael James Ford as Mr. Lefroy, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor as Robert Fowle, Chris McHallem as Mr. Curtis
Also starring: Graham Broadbent, Douglas Rae