Patman

Can you make a film about Jane Austen's life in the spirit of a Jane Austen novel and not make it agonizingly slow? I'm afraid not. "Becoming Jane" suffers from far too much setup and by the time we get to the dilemna of Jane Austen's situation, I just wanted it to end ASAP. Now, the resolution of the film was actually okay, but it just became too tedious in the first 2/3 of the film to muster much sympathy for Jane's plight. I think the screenwriter might have over-written Jane's dialogue, even if to show she had a way with words, and Anne Hathaway sounded a little funny at times spitting out the dialogue, but she does a good job, in spite of some of the dialogue, in portraying Jane Austen.

I give it 2.5 stars, or a grade of C+.

Amel

I'd really like to go see this, but it just doesn't look that great. I loved McAvoy in "Inside I'm Dancing" and I'm very much looking forward to him and Keira Knightley in Atonement. Hathaway, while I enjoyed her in The Princess Diaries and The Devil Wears Prada, I have my doubts about her being able to tackle this role. Still, if this were playing at a theatre much closer I'd probably give it a shot, but since it's not it looks like I'll be waiting until it hits the movie channels.

DVD Josh

I did not enjoy this movie. It dragged in many places and tried too much to be like pride and prejudice in others (some scenes were right out of P&P). The acting, save for Mcavoy, was subpar and the ending abrupt.

1 star, but only if you get laid for taking your lady to see it.