Product: Becoming Jane [Blu-ray] (2007)
Rating: 5.0
Sensible Jane
"Becoming Jane" is a story of young Jane Austen and her pre-writing days; a story that tells us how this brilliant mind imprisoned by a lack of life experience was set free in some of the best literature in history. Anne Hathaway is a good choice for Jane, and James McAvoy is a great choice for just about any role. There is great chemistry between Hathaway and McAvoy, which draws us into this true story of how Jane Austen matured.Jane Austen is a rather popular, educated young woman living in Hampshire, England, deep in the country. Her father (James Cromwell) is a preacher and he believes that his youngest daughter has a true talent for writing, even though writing was considered an inappropriate profession for women of Austen's time. Austen's mother (Julie Walters) is more realistic, realizing the sad truth that in order for a woman of limited means, which Jane was, to survive, she needed to marry well.Enter Tom Lefroy (McAvoy), a young lawyer from London, charismatic, decadent and peniless. Tom dislikes the country and is bored by Jane's amateur writing, which naturally catches Jane's attention, as Tom is seemingly the only men not frothing over her.Great cinematography, great acting, great screenplay - all in all I found "Becoming Jane" to be a pleasure to watch. I am not sure how historically correct the film is, but it is a good segway for reading Austen's novels if one hasn't yet, or if it has been a while since last reading. Highly recommended.