Alert Janeite Karenlee sent us a link to a thoughtful and thought-provoking review of Becoming Jane from someone who must have been in an early screening. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be a way to link directly to this review, written by IMDB user Chris_Docker, but at present it is the only user review for the film at the IMDB. Some excerpts:

The 22 yr old Austen is played by the very pretty Anne Hathaway, who you’ll know from Brokeback Mountain and The Devil Wears Prada. We meet her family when her older sister is happily married.

Hmm. This is the second time we’ve seen a claim that Cassandra is married in this movie. Could he be confused with some kind of formal betrothal shown in the film? Or could the filmmakers really have gone there? Though ultimately it’s not that important, as we will address later in the post.

Firstly be warned. If you are expecting a nice feel-good movie, don’t bother. This made me thoroughly miserable. Not just because a poignant lonely destiny is too much to bear, but because it’s a wasted opportunity to bring a great life to the screen.

Yes.

Our ultimate theme Austen’s writing, yet we see little to convince that this bland and photogenic girl has much between the ears.

Ouch!

In Devil Wears Prada, an outstanding script enabled Hathaway to suggest hidden brainpower. In Becoming Jane, the occasionally erudite lines sound leaden and false. Her body language, meant to portray a rebel, seems a bit anachronistic.

What were we saying the other day about glumping and slumping? Have these young actresses no other way to present Rebellion Against The Patriarchy than going about round-shouldered, slack-jawed, and heavy-footed? (Because grace and elegance are such Jane Austen Movie Clichés™, you know, like bonnets and historical correctness.)

Maggie Smith and other strong actors are reduced to ciphers and little more than icing on a badly made cake.

Now, that’s unfortunate. The marvelous supporting cast was pretty much the best thing this film had going for it.

On the other hand, James McAvoy (fresh from The Last King of Scotland) is a revelation. In what seems like a flash of brilliance in the generally myopic casting, he shines in every scene. A talented actor, he also brings his skills in boxing and sport to imbue Lefroy with vibrancy and charisma. It is when he works his seductive charms on Jane that he also brings out the best in his co-star.

*sigh* We imagine that Mr. McAvoy is a very talented actor indeed. This is also unfortunate, not for him of course, but he’s also very cute, so the fangirls will be all *squeeee* and various screenshots with pithy sayings overlaid in curly fonts will be all over teh Intarwebs and there will be mushy music videos on YouTube and the Editrix will be forced to set her hair on fire, get a picture of Edmund Bertram tattooed on her arse, and move in with Britney at the rehab center.

There are many that will love Becoming Jane in spite of its imperfections. The rest of us might wish it had been told better.

Which, for the benefit of all those who have tut-tutted (or outright whined) that we haven’t “given the film a chance,” is pretty much what we’ve been saying all along.

Really, we can nitpick the details that the filmmakers got wrong–the costumes, Cassandra Austen’s marital status, all the Made Up Story details that we have catalogued over the past couple of years–but we fear that if we concentrate on such details, the bigger picture will be lost: that this film misrepresents Jane Austen’s genius. That would be the worst mistake of all.