Based on the book of the same title, Austenland concerns itself with Jane Austen aficionados, anglophilia and the clash between fantasy and reality.

30 something Jane (Keri Russell) has loved the works of Jane Austen since she was a kid, memorizing the first three chapters of Pride and Prejudice at the age of 13. Her obsession with Jane Austen has only grown with time to the point of ruining relationships (who can stack up to Mr Darcy, after all?). So Jane decides to spend her life savings on a trip to Austenland, where you spend a vacation living in a Regency manor, under a pseudonym, wearing period appropriate clothes and engaging in period activities such as needle-point, hunting and music. Since it’s the full Austen experience, the trip ends with a ball and romance with one of the many actors scattered throughout the manor. Jane will discover that the the brash American Elizabeth Charming (Jennifer Coolidge) and idealized Amelia Hartwright (Georgia King) is also on the vacation and the two have significantly different points of view about culture and men which leads to huge conflicts. Jane Seymour stars as Mrs. Wattlesbrook.

So, the positives. J.J. Field is the Mr. Darcy of the piece, and he plays it well, swinging between bored aristocrat and contemptuous actor who is only there because he needed the job (am I talking about the actor or the character he plays?). The blurring of fiction and reality is done pretty well, culminating in the reveal of an unexpected actor. The soundtrack is great, but completely unfitting for the movie. Everything else is tepid, dull, uninspired. There is a great deal this movie could have dealt with; the glorification of the past, the growing Anglophilia in America, the realization that the world is not a romantic comedy. But it doesn’t, bar one or two moments that just pass by, unacknowledged.

Jane Austen buffs beware this movie fell very short of expectations but if you want a good Jane Austen story, check out Lost in Austen. Avoid this.

Donal O’connor