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THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB

 ABOUT THE MOVIE

Genre: Drama
Starring: Kathy Baker, Maria Bello, Marc Blucas, Emily Blunt, Amy Brenneman, Hugh Dancy, Maggie Grace, Jimmy Smits, Kevin Zegers, Lynn Redgrave
Director: Robin Swicord
Rating: M18 (Some Mature Content)
Year Made: 2007

 

 


 SPECIAL FEATURES

- Deleted Scenes
- Cast and Crew Commentary
- Behind-The-Scenes
- The Life of Jane Austen
- The Book Club: Deconstructed
- Los Angeles Premiere

 


 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Languages: English/Spanish/
Portuguese/Thai
Subtitles: English/Spanish/
Portuguese/Thai/Chinese/Korean
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Running Time: 1 hr 45 mins
Region Code: 3
Distributor: Origin Entertainment
Official Website:
www.sonypictures.com

 

 

SYNOPSIS:   

Six months. Six novels. Six members.

When five women and one man get together to discuss the English writer's beloved novels, they realize the heartaches of Emma, Mr Darcy and the Bennet sisters are not so different from their own. Finding comfort, wit and wisdom from the pages and each other, they discover that in matters of love, all they need to ask is: What would Jane do?

MOVIE REVIEW

Many friends have expressed their shock at how this reviewer doesn’t read a lot. The condescending look which says “You are not very intellectual” irks me a bit, but thanks to movies, I still get the gist when people start conversing about novels written by famous authors. Jane Austen, for example, is one great female author, but whatever I know about would her be from movies like Emma, Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park. And now we have this Robin Swicord-directed film about a group of people talking to each other about this 18th century English writer.

Kathy Baker (All the King’s Men), Maria Bello (World Trade Center), Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada), Maggie Grace (TV’s Lost) and Hugh Dancy (Savage Grace) are some of the urban Californians start a club to discuss Austen’s books. And as all troubled habitants of the city will tell you, these people would probably have problems with their relationships, and the more they talk about the author’s works, they begin to realize that their lives resemble contemporary versions of her novels.

Because this is a movie about a book club, expect lots of talking. It’s almost like hearing the characters talking to their psychiatrists about their issues. Is love everything you need in a relationship? Is commitment a key factor after marriage? Are past affections worth another shot in life? Familiar real life problems surface evidently in this 105-minute movie. Someone’s husband dumps her for another woman. Sylvia's husband dumps her for another woman. Someone’s marriage may be on the rocks. Someone contemplates an affair with a younger man. Someone’s ex keeps showing up in her life. How do these people even find time to meet to discuss the intricacies of Austen’s finely-written novels?

Which is why, this movie will appeal greatly to the modern women and fans of Austen. The female viewer will empathize with the issues discussed in the movie. Austen’s fans will find themselves ogling at every trivia surfaced during the book club discussions. This nicely sums up the genre of the movie (read: chick flick). There will probably be a small fraction of men who just want to know more about the female species and attempt to woo girls with their knowledge of Austen’s works.

One winning factor of this movie is its well-rounded cast. Everyone seems comfortable with each other, and there is nice chemistry amongst the leads. They almost inspired this reviewer to go out there to join a book club to discuss about real life issues, before he realized that he doesn’t read a lot – yes, reading entertainment magazines isn’t really considered as reading.

SPECIAL FEATURES :

This Code 3 DVD contains a “Cast and Crew Commentary” where they talk about the joy of working together in the team. The 22-minute “Behind the Scenes of The Jane Austen Book Club” has the cast talking about their favorite Austen novel, while the 22-minute “The Life of Jane Austen” is a detailed documentary for the true blue Austen fan. “The Book Club: Deconstructed” is a 12-minute featurette where the director breaks down the characters and tells us about how each of them contribute to the story of the movie. The 3-minute “Walking the Red Carpet: Los Angeles Premiere” sees the stars being happy and excited at the premiere of the movie. There are also seven “Deleted Scenes” and two “Trailers” for other Sony Pictures releases.

AUDIO/VISUAL:

The visual transfer is pristine to showcase the book club’s regular meetings and discussions, while there are audio options of English, Spanish, Portuguese and Thai 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtracks to choose from.

MOVIE RATING:



DVD RATING :

Review by John Li

 
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This review is made possible with the kind support from Origin Entertainment

 



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