Product: Becoming Jane [Blu-ray] (2007)
Rating: 5.0
BECOMING JANE is aesthetically beautiful and very well-acted.....
I am sure I am not the first to say that Anne Hathaway is one of the most illuminous actresses of our generation. The screen lights up whenever she is in a scene and Hathaway has a way of commanding your attention. For me, she bares more than a passing resemblance to the late, great Audrey Hepburn. In BECOMING JANE, Anne Hathaway portrays the lead role of the great author Jane Austen. For once, we get a sense of who Jane was as a young, up-and-coming writer and that the romantic intrigues that we read about in her novels (SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, EMMA, and PERSUASION, among others) were prompted by Austen's own experiences love and longing. Austen's on background was quite modest, she being the daughter of a poor church minister (James Cromwell) and his wife (Julie Christie) struggling to make ends meet. It is highly doubtful that Jane will meet anyone for whom marriage is a prospect. Enter Thomas LeFroy (James McAvoy), an aspiring lawyer with a rather rakish reputation. Rarely is he seen without women or a drink in his hand, when out carousing with his friends. Jane Austen feverishly writes away and reads passages from her works out loud to friends and family, while LeFroy smirks in the corner and makes unflattering comments about her work and writing style. Jane hears his remarks and this creates a great rift--but, as we see in Austen's novels, tension is often a thinly-veiled and misapplied form of attraction between characters. Thus, the plot thickens.I must say that I was impressed with Anne Hathaway and her presence throughout the duration of the film, and her supporting cast worked really well together. What's more, the lively script is peppered with humorous banter, as well as insightful commentary. It's really engrossing to witness the evolution of a young writer who went on to become one of the most well-respected and loved contributors to fiction. Though, this film is based on a fictionalized account of Jane Austen's life (prompted by a series of letters exchanged between Jane Austen and Thomas LeFroy), it's still a very thought-provoking journey.