The Jane Austen Book Club (2007)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Robin Swicord

Writers (WGA):

Robin Swicord (screenplay)
Karen Joy Fowler (book)

Release Date:

5 October 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

You don't have to know the books to be in the club.

Plot:

Six Californians start a club to discuss the works of Jane Austen, only to find their relationships -- both old and new -- begin to resemble 21st century versions of her novels.

Plot Keywords:

Skydiving | Jane Austen | Book Club | Affair | Rhodesian Ridgeback

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Maria Bello	...	Jocelyn
Emily Blunt	...	Prudie Drummond
Kathy Baker	...	Bernadette
Amy Brenneman	...	Sylvia Avila
Maggie Grace	...	Allegra Avila
Jimmy Smits	...	Daniel Avila
Ed Brigadier	...	Pastor
Kevin Zegers	...	Trey
Marc Blucas	...	Dean Drummond
Catherine Schreiber	...	Academic Woman
Ned Hosford	...	Waiter
Hugh Dancy	...	Grigg Harris
Messy Stench	...	Girl with Dog Collar
Chris Burket	...	Skydive Instructor
Parisa Fitz-Henley	...	Corinne

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, sexual content, brief strong language and some drug use.

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS | SDDS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Canada:PG | Ireland:PG | UK:12A | Germany:o.Al. | South Korea:15 | Singapore:M18 | Netherlands:AL | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Spain:7 | New Zealand:M

Filming Locations:

Encino, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Mockingbird Pictures

Trivia:

The website address www.laughing-allegra.com written on Allegra's jewelry-kit-box (which she brought to the first meeting of the book club at Starbucks) actually links to the official site of the film.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Dean is seen heading off to the NBA playoffs in early spring (March). In reality they begin in late April and continue through June.

Quotes:

Sylvia Avila: Look, I adore Jocelyn, but . . . ah ha, if, "Loving is letting go," then whoever wants Jocelyn is going to have to pry her fingers loose, one by one.

Movie Connections:

References Horton Hatches the Egg (1942)

Soundtrack:

Getting Some Fun Out of Life

Half of a good movie

Jane Austin Book Club is half of a good movie. I like Jane Austen and I wanted to like this movie. It had good acting. It had more character development than you see in most movies. And I personally like movies with a lot of talking. The problem is that out of the six members of the book club, three were unlikable. Allegra is a hedonistic, self-centered woman who has trouble maintaining long term relationships. Bernadette is a supercilious know-it-all. And Prudie, the most problematic member of the club, is so neurotic and so clueless that you wince every time she opens her mouth. If you're going to put a neurotic main character in a movie, he or she needs to at least be charming and attractive enough to offset the mental issues (OK, she IS really cute, but it's not enough). In an ensemble cast, it simply doesn't work to have so many unlikable characters. Another big problem I had with the movie is that the ending is right out of female fantasy land. No way this is gonna happen in the real world...am I right?? Still, most Jane Austen fans will probably like the film and I would recommend it to them because of the many references to her novels.