Chris Knipp Writing: Movies, Politics, Art


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PostPosted: Fri Aug 23, 2013 11:21 am 
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KERI RUSSELL AND BRET MCKENZIE IN AUSTENLAND

A Jane Austen fan in search of romance, and liberation

The most you can say for this slightly high concept little rom-com is that it's mildly entertaining and that Keri Russell is appealing as the protagonist, Jane Hayes, a lonely Jane Austen buff who visits an English theme park devoted to her favorite novelist's world. Also easy to like are Englishman JJ Feild as Mr. Henry Nobley and New Zealander Bret McKenzie as Martin, the two men, or theme park characters, who wind up vying for the American Jane's affections. Whether their interest in her is just part of the fantasy or has an element of real emotion is the most interesting puzzle the movie poses. It would have been nice if there had been ore of that kind of riddle, which recalls the deeper enigmas John Fowles spins out so intriguingly in his novel The Magus. It would also have been interesting to have more about Jane Austen's novels and the excesses of the more trivializing of her fans, known as Janeites -- two themes only touched on in this movie. What you do get -- the theme park byplay and the teasing illusions of romance -- you may barely remember. But the movie goes by pleasantly enough, if you let it.

Austenland comes from Jerusha Hess, who, with her husband Jared originated the, I think, hilarious script of Napoleon Dynamite which he co-wrote and directed. This is her directorial debut, co-written with Shannon Hale, author of the source novel. All in all it's just not as unique an effort as Napoleon Dynamite, which contained original material about a "super nerd extraordinaire" developed with Jared and the star Jon Heder, all three coming from the rather bizarre world of the Mormons and Utah, like Neil LaBute. There is nothing as memorable here as Jon Heder's reedy, puff-head teenager. (Jerusha and Jared worked in between on Nacho Libre and Gentleman Broncos: the first got so-so reviews and the second bombed.)

Jane Hayes is a thirty-something woman whose boyfriends have never worked out, perhaps partly because they don't match her fantasy man, based on Colin Firth's performance as Darcy in the film Pride and Prejudice. Jane is such an over-the-top Jane Austen fan she has a life-sized effigy of Firth as Darcy in her bedroom. Her last boyfriend didn't like having a cardboard rival visible during love-making. Ms. Hayes knows things aren't right. To turn things around, she decides to blow her entire savings on a trip to England for a week at the "Austenland" theme park in England. With this she has two aims in mind. First, to get over her obsession with all things Jane Austen. Second, with luck, to find romance, a facsimile of which apparently is a promised part of the theme park package. Or course she succeeds in both aims.

Jokes and mild love intrigue are the pervasive elements, with entry into a costumed staging of the world of Regency country life as a bonus. It's all provided over by the rather severe and bossy director of the park, Mrs. Wattlesbrook (veteran English actress Jane Semour). Shannon Hale's novel as adapted here doesn't offer John Fowles' trippy illusionns, just moments when neither the protagonist nor the audience knows for sure whether Mr. Nobley or Martin are really fascinated by her or just following the stern commands of Mrs. Wattlesbrook.

Janeites are traditionally people who fetishize every trivial and superficial detail of Jane Austen's books, completely overlooking the witty style, and the serious core of moral complexity and subtle irony which make her one of the greatest English writers. The term "Janeite" goes back to the 1890's. Kipling even wrote a story about WWI soldiers who were secret Janeites. Given that history of this split approach to the author, Austenland obviously could have been a considerably more sophisticated and detailed satire on Jane Austen fandom. But it's sad to say that apart from Mr. Henry Nobley being an obvious Darcy surrogate, the them park's focus is only vaguely on middle class provincial life of Austen's period, and only with a superficial reference to the novels of Jane Austen.

Moreover, Ms Hayes's main fellow Austenland visitor is very broadly drawn. She's a rich, crude American woman played by the comedienne Jennifer Coolidge, who doesn't seem to have read a page of the novels. Austenland turns out to be a bit of a ripoff for Ms. Hayes, who learns that Miss Elizabeth Charming (her rich colleague's assigned Austen-esque name) has the "platinum package" and gets first class treatment, while she is assigned to the servants' quarters. This isn't all bad, though, because in the back corners of Austenland is where she meets Martin, a lowly worker who tends the livestock, though in period costume, and whose attentions seem authentic. His ambition is to kiss her.

But part of the Austenland package at every level (never quite explained) is that the women who pay to go there get romanced by some of the staff team of actors at some point or other. When Mr. Nobley begins following Ms. Hayes around, it seems as if Nobley and Martin are rivals. But is it all a sham, or are they really interested, given how very sympathetic and nice looking Ms. Hayes is? Well, you will find out, but the teasing that heats up in the last third of the movie is the best part of it. Only neither writing nor directing are tight or smart enough to make the most of this, or, for that matter, to build up the humor and the romance to the pitch they might have achieved in more adept hands.

JJ Field is a highly accomplished stage and screen actor with authentic Austen experience: he starred in Jon Jones's adaptation of Northanger Abbey for ITV in 2007. Bret McKenzie, quietly wining as the handyman and driver whose attentions creep up on Ms. Hale, is a cutie and charmer who first drew attention as an elf in The Lord of the Rings and is best known for the Hobbit series. The very pretty Nineties Micky Mouse Club vet Keri Russell is mainly known for starring in the "Felicity Porter" TV series.

Austenland, which debuted at Sundance in January 2013, is a Sony Pictures Classics release that comes out in the US (NYC) Aug. 16 (northern California Aug 23), 2013. Critical reception appears to have been poor (Metacritic rating: 47%; rottentomatoes: 35%).

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©Chris Knipp. Blog: http://chrisknipp.blogspot.com/.


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