MOVIE REVIEW: The Jane Austen Book Club

One of Mom's Netflixes that we watched the other week. Super cute! I was expecting something a little more chick-flickery (not to say that I would make my boyfriend watch it- it is pretty mushy), but was pleasantly surprised when it was a good time.

Imdb.com's summary:

Sylvia's husband dumps her for another woman, so Bernadette and Jocelyn organize a book club to distract her. They recruit Sylvia's daughter Allegra; Prudie, a young teacher whose marriage may be on the rocks; and Grigg (a/n: SO CUTE!), a sci-fi fan who joins out of attraction to Jocelyn. The six read and discuss one Austen novel per month. Jocelyn tries to interest Grigg in Sylvia; Allegra falls in love with a woman she meets skydiving; Prudie contemplates an affair with a student; Sylvia's ex keeps popping up. In the discussions, characters reveal themselves in their comments.

I think the main thing was that everything ended all happily, much like how 'Jane' would have done it herself. :P Prudie is a bit of a snobby mean-name, but by the end she sees how bad she is and turns around; characters who should get together do; and characters who should break up do so as well (I don't want to spoil any endings too badly).

You don't need to know the books really well to enjoy the movie, though I am sure it helps. Personally, I've practically memorized A&E's miniseries of Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth (mmmm.... Firthy goodness as Mr Darcy...) but truth be told, I've only read Emma, and I am clueless about the other four books (Mansfield Park, Northanger Abby, Sense & Sensibility, and Persuasion). Apparently, reading Persuasion (according to the movie) heals all relationship woes. Behold, the power of Austen! :)

The best part, beside the wrap-it-all-up happy ending, was Grigg's contribution to one discussion. I forget which book they were discussion, but when directly asked to participate (he stays quiet when the women go ranting about Austen), he goes on this thesis about the "Reverse Star Wars" relationship between the main characters; that is, once made aware of the relationship between them, they more avidly continued their romantic interests in each other, instead of getting creeped out like Luke and Leia did. His diatribe lasts a few minutes, then he looks around at all the ladies and meekly asks if anyone else noticed it; they are all staring at him like he's crazy. He also bought the bound-together full works of Austen, because he thought they were all sequels, and he wanted to keep them together. He looks very confused when the ladies announce they are "starting in the middle" according to his collection. :) Grigg may be the saving point of the moving for me, but who knows, I like Steel Magnolias and there are no cute menfolk in that one. However, Grigg is supercute both in looks and his sci-fi reading geekiness.

All around score for this one would have to be at least a 4 out of 5. I wouldn't feel over-generous giving it a 5 out of 5, either. The characters are well-rounded (even snobby Prudie changes her ways), the dialogue clever, and the ending happy. What more do you need?