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Nebs
Joined: Wed Nov 29, 2006 8:01 pm
Posts: 6385
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 Becoming Jane Becoming Jane Quote: Becoming Jane is a 2007 historical film directed by Julian Jarrold. It is inspired by the early life of author Jane Austen (portrayed by Anne Hathaway), and her posited relationship with Thomas Langlois Lefroy (played by BAFTA-winning Scottish actor James McAvoy). Also appearing are Julie Walters, James Cromwell and Maggie Smith. The film was produced in cooperation with several companies, including BBC Films and the Irish Film Board. It performed well at the box office, earning $37 million worldwide according to Box Office Mojo.
The casting was by Gail Stevens and Gillian Reynolds, costumes by Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh, and the original soundtrack was composed by Adrian Johnston. Although the film assumes an otherwise unproven relationship between Austen and Lefroy, the original screenplay was inspired by real events, which were chronicled in the book Becoming Jane Austen by Jon Spence, who was the historical consultant on the film. In fact, prior to Spence’s book, biographers Radovici (1995) and Tomalin (2000) have also acknowledged a relationship between Jane Austen and Tom Lefroy. Tomalin’s book was referenced in the making of Becoming Jane.
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| Sun Aug 05, 2007 5:39 pm |
 
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thompsoncory
Rachel McAdams Fan
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2004 11:13 am
Posts: 14544
Location: LA / NYC
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Re: Becoming Jane An absolute delight. This is an incredibly well-written and smart romantic drama, boasting strong direction, great cinematography and standout performances. Anne Hathaway is wonderful as heroine Jane Austen, and James McAvoy is incredibly charming as her love interest. Maggie Smith also delivers a strong and memorable performance. This is better than 2005's Pride and Prejudice and one of the year's strongest films so far.
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| Sun Aug 05, 2007 8:41 pm |
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Neostorm
All Star Poster
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 2:48 pm
Posts: 4684
Location: Toronto
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Re: Becoming Jane Better than Pride and Prejudice  I was shocked by how good 2005's pride and prejudice was and your review has peeked my interest in this movie. Now one thing that really stood out in P&P was the chemistry between the main characters (jane & Mr. Darcy)... Keira Knightly and the guy who played Darcy had such strong chemistry that made the movie so believable. Is Becoming Jane comparable in this regard?
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| Mon Aug 06, 2007 1:44 am |
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snack
Extraordinary
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 9:18 pm
Posts: 12159
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Re: Becoming Jane A silly little movie. Acting was good, but the material wasn't there for any great performances. The script was mediocre, and was mostly dimwitted rather than witty. The cinematography was excellent, though.
The whole movie felt pointless.
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| Mon Aug 06, 2007 1:47 am |
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thompsoncory
Rachel McAdams Fan
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2004 11:13 am
Posts: 14544
Location: LA / NYC
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Re: Becoming Jane Neostorm wrote: Better than Pride and Prejudice I was shocked by how good 2005's pride and prejudice was and your review has peeked my interest in this movie. Now one thing that really stood out in P&P was the chemistry between the main characters (jane & Mr. Darcy)... Keira Knightly and the guy who played Darcy had such strong chemistry that made the movie so believable. Is Becoming Jane comparable in this regard? I loved Pride and Prejudice (2005) and do not feel that the level of chemistry seen in that film is matched here. But I do feel that it is a better-made and more enjoyable film with an entire ensemble full of strong performances as opposed to one real standout (Keira Knightley in P&P). I'd definitely recommend this though if you enjoyed P&P, since they cater to the same audience.
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| Mon Aug 06, 2007 1:55 am |
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Magic Mike
Wallflower
Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2004 4:53 am
Posts: 34876
Location: Minnesota
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Re: Becoming Jane My theater gets this on Friday. I think it looks great and I love the two leads. It sounds sad though, which will likely make me like it better. And for me it should easily surpass Pride & Prejudice, which I gave a B. I'm expecting a B+ from this one.
Has anyone seen any TV spots for this one this week, perhaps announcing that it's going wide on Friday?
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| Wed Aug 08, 2007 5:06 pm |
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Levy
Golfaholic
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2005 2:06 pm
Posts: 16054
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Re: Becoming Jane It's a nice enough movie with one fatal flaw. The filmmakers don't try to tell a story from Jane Austen's life, they try to fit her life as good as possible into Sense and Sensibility. Now, unfortunately we had a fantastic Sense and Sensibility adaption last year, so this movie comes way to soon. In comparison it falls flat.
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| Thu Aug 09, 2007 1:41 pm |
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Bradley Witherberry
Extraordinary
Joined: Sat Oct 30, 2004 1:13 pm
Posts: 15197
Location: Planet Xatar
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Re: Becoming Jane What a cool conceit!
I say this knowing nothing about the real life of Jane Austen, but with the experience of one (amongst the many) who's read her novels (and then seen their fair share of the film adaptations).
But no matter how close it comes to any historical truth, I sincerely believe it approaches the emotional truth of Miss Austen - - to quote the film's Jane: "Her inner landscape is quite picturesque, I suspect."
Yup, this one rings true. A clarion view of the artists' evolution. An evocative envisioning of a woman, reverse engineered from her writings.
I suppose it doesn't hurt that I'm an out-and-out sucker for Anne Hathaway, and she excels here beyond my hopes. Then the supporting cast is purely perfect in establishing the setting for this story of growing up and grief. Julie Walters and James Cromwell, both old hands, provide a hilariously lewd scene right off the bat. Maggie Smith acts the brittle foil and James McAvoy plays the love interest with jhust the right blend of rakishness and romance.
A surprisingly good (meta) period piece, out of the blue, here in the middle of summer of all times. Lucky us.
9 out of 5.
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| Fri Aug 31, 2007 6:55 am |
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Bradley Witherberry
Extraordinary
Joined: Sat Oct 30, 2004 1:13 pm
Posts: 15197
Location: Planet Xatar
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Re: Becoming Jane I appreciate the bump, but my original posting date's been lost...  (Please re-stickie Last Legion thread just for this last long weekend of the summer - - I'm really hoping a couple KJer's get the opportunity to see it on the big screen...)
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| Fri Aug 31, 2007 7:34 am |
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Bradley Witherberry
Extraordinary
Joined: Sat Oct 30, 2004 1:13 pm
Posts: 15197
Location: Planet Xatar
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Re: Becoming Jane Nebs?! What's up man? You took your edit tag off my bump, but the date remains changed...
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| Fri Aug 31, 2007 8:36 am |
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Nebs
Joined: Wed Nov 29, 2006 8:01 pm
Posts: 6385
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Re: Becoming Jane Didn't took anything off.
Used actual "bump" feature of boards to bump thread for Groucho, and last post date got changed. Not sure if it can be changed back.
Is it really that big of a deal?
As for Last Legion, stickying it wont make KJ'ers go see it. :=)
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| Fri Aug 31, 2007 9:34 am |
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Groucho
Extraordinary
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2004 9:30 pm
Posts: 12096
Location: Stroudsburg, PA
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Re: Becoming Jane Thanks.
I was not impressed. It was entertaining, the acting was wonderful, and the script was fine, but it did seem to go on a bit long. I wish it had spent more on her writing -- I thought it was interesting that everyone called her a writer even though she had never published a single word.
I do want to comment upon one thing that always bugs me about many movies these days: the frigging hand held camera. Shaky camera work distracts from the story (as does, ironically, beautiful Kubrick-like camera work where you are saying "Wow, that's great camera work!"). Put your goddamn camera on a tripod, will you? It's a multi-million dollar movie, can't you afford a stupid tripod?!!
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| Fri Aug 31, 2007 10:28 am |
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Dr. Lecter
You must have big rats
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 4:28 pm
Posts: 92093
Location: Bonn, Germany
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Re: Becoming Jane B
I agree with the general consensus. It's a little, charming film that rarely rises above average and that has only one major thing going for it - Anne Hathaway's great leading performance. She plays her role with wit and devotion. Sady, the same cannot be said for the usually bland James McAvoy who once again delivers an unspectacular turn. The supporting cast does pretty much what you expect them to do, no one really is worth mentioning here, maybe except for Laurence Fox as Mr. Wisley. As Levy has said, the movie would have been better off if they didn't try to fit the film into Austen's literary works, but tried to make a movie about her liefe and her writing. So, on the whole, Hathaway impresses, the film doesn't, but it's also harmless and sweet enough to get a solid grade.
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| Thu Dec 27, 2007 2:37 pm |
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_axiom
The Wall
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 10:50 am
Posts: 16163
Location: Croatia
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Re: Becoming Jane 7/10 -> B-
A loveable movie. Sometimes a bit slow in pace (and the editor didn't do a good job in some scenes either) but overall gives an enjoyable watching experiance. All performances in the movie are pretty good, though sometimes Hathaway was a bit iffy. But when she wasn't iffy she was superb. James McAvoy is getting uglier with age, but he does have something about him that makes him very likeable. Smith and Cromwell were both brilliant.
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| Wed Jan 30, 2008 8:32 pm |
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Magic Mike
Wallflower
Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2004 4:53 am
Posts: 34876
Location: Minnesota
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Re: Becoming Jane BECOMING JANE (2007)
It's not hard to find yourself wrapped up in the romance in "Becoming Jane" Anne Hathaway is such an exceptional Jane Austen and she and James McAvoy (as Tom Lefroy) have sizzling chemistry. During the first half of the movie the fun sexual chemistry between the two is undeniably exciting. It often had me grinning from ear to ear. I was so emotionally invested in the relationship of Jane and Tom and badly wished they could be together. But since Jane Austen never married I knew they wouldn't be. The ending was so tragic and depressing. I hate it when two people love each other so much and for whatever reason can't be together. And it's sadder because Jane really did end up alone.
Despite being heartbreaking, "Becoming Jane" is delightful. The writing, cinematography, and music were all great. But it wouldn't have been as successful without excellent performances by Hathaway and McAvoy.
Overall this was a wonderful period romance that has left me saddened, though I loved every minute of it. I also found this to be much better than 2005's "Pride & Prejudice" in many ways.
Grade: 8/10 (A-)
BTW, what would be the best book to read about Jane Austen's life?
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| Mon Feb 11, 2008 1:48 am |
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Mr. Inc
Veteran
Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2007 10:50 am
Posts: 3350
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Re: Becoming Jane B. It's a beautiful movie, with some nice preformances. The pacing is incredibly off though, you go from a nice fast paced, entertaining scene to one that goes on forever.
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| Mon Feb 11, 2008 7:29 pm |
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jmovies
Let's Call It A Bromance
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2007 7:22 pm
Posts: 12333
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Re: Becoming Jane Anne Hathaway plays the role of Jane Austen very solidly and I always seem to enjoy James McAvoy's work so the two working together was good. The pacing though was very off and stopped this film from reaching even a higher potential. With that aside, the story is a nice one and the acting is well done to be a nice little film. B
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| Fri May 29, 2009 10:07 am |
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