Home Movie Vault Disc Vault Coming Soon Local Scene Join Our Mailing List Articles About Us Contest Soundtrack Books eStore
BECOMING JANE

 ABOUT THE MOVIE

Genre: Drama/Romance
Starring: Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy, Julie Walters, James Cromwell, Maggie Smith
Director: Julian Jarrold
Rating: PG (Brief Nudity)

Year Made: 2008

 

 


 SPECIAL FEATURES

- NIL

 

 


 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Languages: English
Subtitles: English/Chinese
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Widescreen
Sound: Dolby Digital Stereo
Running Time: 2 hrs
Region Code: NTSC 3
Distributor: InnoF
orm Media

 

 

SYNOPSIS:

Jane Austen believes in love. Her parents want her to marry for money and in 1795 England that was the way of the world for a young woman. But when the 20-year-old meets the dashing young Irish-man, Tom Lefroy, his intellect and arrogance ignite Jane's curiosity and her world spins head-over-heels. Can Jane afford to spurn the offer of Lady Gresham's nephew, defy the authority of her parents and fly in the face of social convention? In BECOMING JANE, a young lady on the first rung of literary greatness risks a romance that was to shape her life and her work.

MOVIE REVIEW:
  

While this reviewer has been telling readers that he doesn’t read too many books, he continues to believe that what he needs to know, he can get from movies. Which is why, a period piece like this proves to be of great help when it comes to situations where he has to converse with others about sophisticated issues like English literature, fine art, and well, the life of a certain iconic female author named Jane Austen.

Directed by Julian Jarrold (Kinky Boots), this 120 minute attempts to shed light on Austen’s love life, We all know that Austen is feisty and against the norm of things. She dreams of being free from pride and prejudice and wishes to marry for, gasp, love. And in a classic scenario, we have two suitors for the famous writer. Suitor number one is the son of a rich aristocrat. Suitor number two is a charismatic young man who, well, isn’t very wealthy. So how has this dilemma for lifelong happiness affected Austen’s works?

The main draw of this somewhat lengthy movie has to be its star studded cast. The ever luminous Anne Hathaway (Brokeback Mountain, The Princess Diaries) is lovely as the spirited author. The up and coming James McAvoy (Atonement, The Last King of Scotland) is charming as Austen’s true love Tom Lefroy. Heavyweights like Julie Walters (Billy Elliot), James Cromwell (The Queen) and Maggie Smith (Gosford Park) fill out the roles of Austen’s parents and Suitor Number One’s aunt nicely. The chemistry between the actors (especially between the increasingly appealing Hathaway and McAvoy) are good, and should please romantic die hards.

While there is nothing to complain about the very impressive performance by the cast, the movie may not be everyone’s cup of tea. It is not everyday that you’d get terribly excited about Austen’s early life – unless you are a history student who finds such unproven events remarkably fascinating. The screenplay was inspired by autobiographies and letters written by the great Austen herself, and this is a must watch for all self respecting Austen fan. Kudos goes to the art direction and intricate replication of the 18th century’s wardrobe and sets. The delicate score by Adrian Johnston is also pleasant to the ears.

It’s high time this reviewer gives up his sloppy lifestyle and indulges in something more scholarly. Yes, he started by sitting through this movie. Next, he’d need to move on to actually reading Austen’s novels.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

NIL

AUDIO/VISUAL:

The disc’s visual transfer complements the luscious landscape cinematography, while it is presented only in its original English audio track.

 

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING:


Review by John Li

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE...



. Becoming Jane (Movie Review)


Other titles from Innoform Media:

. Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon

. The Pye Dog


. Dangerous Games

. Evangelion 1.0

. Vexille

. Le Grand Chef

. Tokyo Tower

. The Warlords

. The Willow Tree

. Mor. 8


. Khao Chon Kai

. The Detective

. Nakara 19

. The Bodyguard 2

. The Sperm

. Blood Brothers

. Poltergay

. Invisible Target


. Nightmare Detective

. Secret

. Dynamite Warrior

. 13: Game of Death

. Surgeon Bong Dal-Hee

. Men In White

. Wing Chun

. Prince Hours

. Freeze

. Stranger Than Paradise

. Dancing Lion

. Yam Yosothon

. Noo-Hin The Movie

. Curiosity Kills The Cat

. 200 Pounds Beauty

. 1942

. Just Follow Law

. Nada Sou Sou

. A Mob Story

. The Third Eye

. Undercover

. Perfect Match

. The Unseeable

. Mercury Man

. Colour Of Hope

. Confession Of Pain

. Loveaholic

. Colic


. Silk

. Ghost Variety

. The Knot

. Boa

. The Host

. Forbidden Siren

. The Banquet

. Hell

. Eating Air


. Ghost Valentine

. 4:30


. My Name Is Fame

. Letter

. Born to Fight

. Lizard Woman

. Chai-Lai Angels

. Helen the Baby Fox

. Love Asia

. The Commitment

. The Story of X-Circle

. Beautiful, Wonderful, Perfect

. Hit Man

 


This review is made possible with the kind support from InnoForm Media


 

DISCLAIMER: Images, Textual, Copyrights and trademarks for the film and related entertainment properties mentioned
herein are held by their respective owners and are solely for the promotional purposes of said properties.
All other logo and design Copyright©2004- , movieXclusive.com™
All Rights Reserved.