Love & Friendship

Kate Beckinsale trades in her latex for hats and crinolines to take on Jane Austen in this moderately tongue-in-cheek adaptation of her posthumously-published novella in which pert modern misses Beckinsale & Sevigny dress up in a succession of magnificent period creations and sit about talking (and talking) about, well, love and friendship rather as Whit Stillman's characters used to do in twentieth century Manhattan.

It's all agreeable and good-looking, although the settings feel totally unlived in and everybody sounds as if they're simply reciting dialogue they've memorised in advance. Which of course they have.

Here's my beef with Love and Friendship. They told the story. Emphasis on told. Not sure if they didn't know how to build the character backgrounds and cultural implications into an hour and a half-ish flick or what. It's like they assumed you understood some things but, needed to explain the bulk of the story via Lady Susan. Instead of building the story via scenes and acting and playing out the idea and letting the audience think and work out the connections....leave a little to figure out if you got it right or not, Beckinsale's character basically narrarated everything that was going on. As we walked out, I said to my wife, Downton Abbey left a pretty high bar for period pieces. The Jane Austin story of relationships and status and morality was interesting enough. The presentation just plain left it all in the book. You read a book, and you know you're reading a book. Director Stillman just had the book read to us by actors. It wasn't as interesting as that may sound either. I don't know if it was budget over directing but, this was a disappointing movie-fication of a book. Even the period environment was stumbling and stiff. Oh yeah, a hand maiden should do this. Oh yeah, the footman or, doorman or butler would do this. It came across as a poorly staged amateur play, where there was no fluidity. Other reviews said you'd be laughing out loud. Maybe a few snickers and giggles. I was glad it was only 90-ish minutes. If you're coming to this because Downton Abbey made you a fan of that period of England, I'm sorry to tell you, you won't be satisfied by Love and Friendship.

A scheming widow flees to the English countryside to settle the marriage prospects of her family.

Some superb characters and performances in a patchy production. Lady Susan has an interesting and sophisticated view of life, which is delivered in fine style by the lead actress: after furiously rebuking a gent for daring to approach her, she breezily excuses herself - "Of course I know him! I would never address a stranger in such fashion." But even more enjoyable is the unsquashable dunderhead, Sir James - the director makes great demands with extended scenes in which it must have been difficult to sustain the delicate humour, but the actor pulls it off brilliantly. Also a lovely scene with the de Courcy grandparents, as he tries to read her a letter.

On the debit side, the American exile isn't quite right - a great actress for close-ups, but here (as usual) she's just a sidekick, and can't bring the proper deviousness to her role. And the scene with her husband felt like the actors weren't sure it was working. And, in general, the camera or editing often seems misplaced in two-shots and over the shoulders.

There are big problems with the story, and about halfway through I was puzzled by a couple of scenes that seemed to refer to ghost events I didn't recall. And the resolution is frivolous, a disappointment after Lady Susan's musings on loyalty and emotion. I understand this is an early work by the great novelist, but I don't see why the story couldn't have been gussied up in the screenplay.

Another thing - clearly a great deal of compression in the writing and editing, as the opening titles hit us with a tidal wave of character intros, with the following scene an extreme example of entering late and leaving early. Fine, but the pace over the first ten minutes had me holding on by my fingernails as I tried to figure out what was happening to whom. It felt like everyone was frantic with worry over the slim running time.

The Irish locations are just right for the Georgian period. Music all chamber orchestra Baroque. Photography is fine, but doesn't balance out the threadbare direction and editing.

Overall: golden threads in a tattered rag.

The funniest character in the film is James Martin. He steals every scene he's in and each time he was on the screen I couldn't stop laughing. Unfortunately, he isn't in a lot of the film, and the rest of the movie's humor comes in the form of pithy one liners at the end of every scene. Sometimes I'd chuckle at those, but that'd be about it. There aren't any weak links in the cast, they all do a great job with what they're given, but I wish they were given something better. The movie moves at an incredibly slow pace, and with not a lot ever going on, it often feels like I'm being read a Jane Austen novel rather than watching a movie adaptation. The movie isn't "bad" by any means but there's so little going for it that I would consider noteworthy I can't really find myself ever wanting to sit through Love & Friendship again. Maybe if you absolutely LOVE period dramas from a design standpoint or are a huge Jane Austen fan, you'll get more out of this movie than I did, but otherwise there isn't much here.

Now here is a film which have divided audiences and critics significantly. Whereas critics have hailed Love and friendship a penetrating, brilliant dark comedy, ordinary moviegoers are certainly not as thrilled. I think a good litmus test for whether one would enjoy Love And Friendship is whether one enjoys the other Austen adaptations, or Austen novels. Most people who like the elegant, circumlocutory dialogue in the Austen novels(and films) would enjoy this film, for this film is extremely dialogue-heavy. Much of the humour is also hidden in the wry, witty dialogue, especially that from Lady Susan. And what a character Lady Susan is. Played by the inimitable Kate Beckinsale, Lady Susan is a master manipulator, a crafting, smug, witty, yet eminently likable character. Kate Beckinsales simply offers a powerhouse performance- she has a beautifully posh, confident voice, with such gorgeous inflexions that really brings the full cunning and the amiability of her character to life. Susan is a glib, eloquent, smooth talker able to wheedle her way out of any difficulty. But perhaps the films main selling point is also its problem- the presence of endless dialogue in this film may prove weary for many viewers. In a script which is so elegantly Austen, that is to say roundabout and difficult to decipher(usually the highlight of any Austen adaptation), having so much dialogue means so much brainwork, and many of the films witticisms may easily fly over a viewers head. The film may also lose some of its enjoyability as its pace slows in the middle section. But on the whole, Love And Friendship should be a treat for lovers of Austen, though it's dialogue-heavy approach, and it's reliance of comedy in dialogue over comedy in situation may prove difficult for some viewers.