This movie is such a guilty pleasure for me that I find it impossible to rate. I truly enjoyed it and watched it several times, but I also see so many faults in, I could fill pages trying to list them. So I can't rate it highly because I intellectually see all the bad in it, but I can't rate it low because I enjoyed it so much, and I can't rate it in the middle either because it wasn't a meh experience.
Anybody feel the same way about this movie or other movies?
Haha, excellent points. I've also been very conflicted over this movie, though I enjoyed it more when I was younger and find it more annoying now. Maybe because I don't find James McAvoy quite as charming as I used to? The movie really stands and falls with that..
I'd love to hear what you find to be its strengths and weaknesses. I guess the primary weakness has to be that it's romantic fantasy fulfillment (albeit with an unconventional ending). Of course, so is every romantic comedy. Still, this movie pretends to be something more - a biopic. That's where it fails, for me.
Furthermore, although James McAvoy is good, his character is a complete cliche. The stereotypical "bad boy hero". To say he could be a model for Mr Darcy shows a huge lack of understanding of Austen.
For me the worst part is the lines they put in Jane's mouth, mixed With Anne Hathaway's acting. Hathaway isn't exactly bad, but slightly...affected? And not believable as the historical Jane Austen, since, judging by her books, Austen must have had a great sense of humour and been a keen observer of other People and their folly. You don't find that in this Jane, and that's just it about the movie generally as well: It completely overlooks the satirical part of Austen's writing, and puts all the focus on the romantic ("matters of the heart").
HOWEVER. There are clear strengths. The score by Adrian Johnston, so gorgeous you can get obsessed with it (just seek it out on youtube). The cinematography. The acting in general, especially McAvoy, Laurence Fox as Wisley, who's also a great, complex character; and Lucy Cohu as cousin Eliza (why haven't I seen her in anything else?) The script isn't that bad, just Jane's lines (noone speaks like that, not even cultured people, not even back then!). It's funny at times (well, Lucy is). Lastly, the ball scene is this beats the ball scenes in most Austen adaptations. Both the dance itself and the preceding scene are so well-made they are worth at least a couple of imdb stars to me!