Let's get one thing out of the way, first. I really wasn't sure what to expect. This is not a great movie but it is a nice one; although there were some things that were not very belieavable. Sylvia (Amy Brenneman) and her husband, Daniel (Jimmy Smits) have been married for a little over 20 years. In this amazingly cinematographed peaceful work of art, a six-time-married old woman gathers her friends and someone else whom they just let in, to form a club so that they would cheer up their friends who have just lost the love their lives; one loses a dog, the other divorcing from the husband. Notable Video Game Releases: New and Upcoming, Chick Flick indeed! It's a motley crew and, thanks to their wildly different personalities, not everyone gels easily. Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners. Therefore, Jocelyn invites Grigg (Hugh Dancy), an attractive young man she met at a hotel bar, to join them. Robin Swicord's "The Jane Austen Book Club" centers on its six members, who meet over six months to discuss the novels, which seem to have an uncanny relevance to events in their own lives, just as the newspaper horoscope always seems to be about you. THE JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY OFFICIAL BOOK DESCRIPTION: Just after the Second World War, in the small English village of Chawton, an unusual but like-minded group of people band together to attempt something remarkable. Be the first to review this title. Neither trite nor pandering, and that's what makes the film better than most of its peers. And Hugh Dancy is really delightful as the sci-fi reading, computer geek who is the club's only male member. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in. In a novel it would be achievable but here it lacked the depth to make it really special. I'm sure there are lots of singles out there who would love to find a club that promised such results! One hundred and fifty years ago, Chawton was the final home of Jane Austen, one of England’s finest novelists. It's entertaining and usually that's enough. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages that interest you. Wondering if The Jane Austen Book Club is OK for your kids? Let me say this, if you have not read a Jane Austen novel I advise against seeing this movie. I'm not a Jane Austen fan. The great thing about books was the solidity of the written word." An ode to the timelessness of human relationships. Should you have read all of Jane Austen to appreciate it? "The mere habit of learning to love is the thing," Austen wrote, and it is also the real story in Fowler's novel. And some of the parallels drawn between Austen's books … Sanditon, The Watsons, and At Lady Susan's are not mentioned but otherwise each character and each episode bears a subtle relationhip to a Jane Austen book. French teacher Prudie (Emily Blunt) longs for romance, yet takes her husband for granted even as she fantasizes about a sexually aggressive student, while Bernadette (Kathy Baker) is a serial monogamist who loves being married but can't make a union last. Early on I sensed this film was totally infatuated with how clever, adorable, witty and wise it was. Get full reviews, ratings, and advice delivered weekly to your inbox. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. She’s the snooty literary snob of the group but her personal life is in shambles–married to a kind man (Marc Blucas) who doesn’t really understand her which prompts Prudie to consider having a fling with a charismatic high school senior (Kevin Zegers). High marks to all involved. I have not read any of the books and I have only seen two movies based on the books. Adventurous Allegra (Sylvia and Daniel's lesbian daughter), is no longer talking with her partner. I like movies with spaceships in, preferably exploding at some point. A very boring self satisfied and pretentious film. Austen not only proves to be the ultimate matchmaker in her own novels, but in Fowler's as well. Jane was never married but somehow she has managed to create a great atmosphere of dramatic love and romance between men and woman maintaining the dignity and pride in the meaning of self-respect in women. ), the members reminisce their own life stories. This tries to be more than a chick flick but never quite makes it past. But since most people (aka those who haven't read Jane Austen) won't understand this, I'll say it more bluntly. I am giving it a 6 because I enjoyed it but I wouldn't watch it again, Grigg(Hugh Dancy) is a science-fiction fan who tries to convince Jocelyn(Maria Bello), the literary snob, that a novelist like Ursula McGuinn is a good writer, period; not just a genre writer. Her only problem is she can only count with two other friends. Perfect for warmhearted family entertainment. The actors have so greatly played in a story that has been perfectly chaptered and yet of course keeps the continuity of life and love among five couple of people, six of whom have started a club reading the six novels by Jane Austen. Tell him, "It's really cool, dude, even though there aren't any eviscerations.". Well there are men who haven't. The Jane Austen Book Club is in cinemas now. What might've worked in the Karen Joy Fowler novel, doesn't all translate well on the screen. It really isn't the singularly ultra-feminine orientation that alienates me from this 2007 hodgepodge tribute to the power of Jane Austen's prose as much as the cursory, heavy-handed way that director/screenwriter Robin Swicord has approached her adaptation of Karen Joy Fowler's 2004 novel. Literature can't save a marriage; a jock doesn't change his stripes overnight. I suppose that's true, but only just. The actors have so greatly played in a story that has been perfectly chaptered and yet of course keeps the continuity of life and. Thanks to movie adaptations--some great, some so-so--Jane Austen has found a wider audience than she could ever have guessed. Quite a nice little relationship comedy-drama, but essentially for an audience of what the French charmingly call ‘women of a certain age’. The books were written in the early 1800's, people, not 2008. 3 stars. Each title of the novels isn’t so far from what its picker’s going through in his/her personal life and although picking process may sound coincidental for some of them, it still works out for each and every one of them. Thanks to movie adaptations--some great, some so-so--Jane Austen has found a wider audience than she could ever have guessed. CCPA: Protect your family's data privacy under new California law. This movie is the type of film you should watch just expecting to have some entertainment and not much thinking. The joke was slow, off-the-cuff (he made it up on the spot), and so droll in the way he told it "au naturel" and spontaneous. "The Jane Austen Book Club" has an undeveloped academic side because there indeed are learned men and women who argue for speculative fiction as being undervalued. A classy adaptation of a highly readable novel. The problem is that out of the six members of the book club, three were unlikable. Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2008 Five women of various ages and sexual persuasion and a forty-something man meet every week to discuss the books of one of the most beloved authors of the English language: Jane Austen. I'm sorry, but I must say that I feel it's misleading to portray to those who are clueless of Jane Austen, that she was just like today's Desperate Housewives type of modern woman. Natch. Written and directed by Robin Swicord, ““The Jane Austen Book Club” is a light, romantic comedy. Still, most Jane Austen fans will probably like the film and I would recommend it to them because of the many references to her novels. Blunt again proves herself talented with a storyline that's at once scandalous and poignant, and Brenneman stands out as a wife blindsided by her husband's infidelity. The placing of Austen in a modern day context is not a new thing. As this was about a book club I would have like to have spent more time with the characters in their monthly meetings, listening to them artfully discuss Austen. Production values are high. Based on the bestselling novel by Karen Joy Fowler  Jane Austen revolves around a group of friends who decide to start a Jane Austen book club aptly named “All-Austen-All-The-Time.” In the group we have: the book club’s instigator Bernadette (Kathy Baker) a free-spirited fifty-something who has been married six times; her good friend Jocelyn (Maria Bello) a dog breeder who has steered clear of marriage so far; Jocelyn’s childhood friend Sylvia (Amy Brenneman) whose husband of 23 years (Jimmy Smits) has just left her for another woman; Sylvia’s twenty-something daughter Allegra (Maggie Grace) a proud lesbian who nevertheless falls too hard and too often for the wrong women; Prudie (Emily Blunt) an uptight high school French teacher Bernadette takes under her wing; and finally sci-fi geek Grigg (Hugh Dancy) the only male in the group brought in by Jocelyn as a potential suitor for the jilted Sylvia. A married man abandons his wife, who later runs into him and his mistress; the same man later belittles his wife's friend's attachment to her pet. There's some minor language (including one use of "f--k") and social drinking, and a supporting character is a heavy marijuana user. The acting was great but there were many false moments originating from the script. Read the hilarious book instead. The book club here is a quirky, diverse group who don't seem to have a lot in common other than a love of Austen, which seems an unlikely interest for some of them. Prime members enjoy Free Two-Day Shipping, Free Same-Day or One-Day Delivery to select areas, Prime Video, Prime Music, Prime Reading, and more. In her sixties, Bernadette has apparently given up on much in her life. Watching The Jane Austen Book Club (2007), it constantly crossed my mind that to start one club of my own with people I know on Skype, but of course about movies!