Baz Bamigboye interviews James McAvoy, in which Mr. McAvoy admits that Becoming Jane is, indeed, a Made Up Story.

His Lefroy character is interesting in that, initially, he comes across as a bit of a braggart.

“You think he’s selfish, but he’s actually got a lot of integrity. He’s just one of those guys who wants to be seen as a baddass and sexy and dangerous,” James told me as we chatted in London this week.

The film suggests that Lefroy’s friendship with Austen informed her development as a writer.

James said there’s evidence that they went to dances together. “But we don’t know exactly what happened to them at the dances. A lot of what we depict in the film happened, but a couple of things we made up,” he confessed.

Take note, you Jane Austen bloggers (they’re unforgiving, those Austen fanatics). But remember: it’s a movie entertainment, not a documentary.

Why, Baz. We’re flattered you noticed, darling. *bats eyelashes* (But we think “badass” has only one “d.” See, Samuel L. Jackson’s wallet.)

Besides, you think *we* are unforgiving? Check out this review from the delightfully titled blog Movie reviews for greedy capitalist bastards:

BECOMING JANE is a flimsy little costume drama that shamelessly cashes in on the Jane Austen fanbase and has far too little wit, character, plot, intelligence or style to sustain its 120 minute run time.

Ouch!

In the end, we are left with the fact that Jane Austen wrote a couple of marvellous novels, but lived a rather quiet life that was clearly insufficient in excitement to fill a film. Worst of all, the simplistic structure and banal dialogue of BECOMING JANE look all the more mediocre when the film is constantly referring our attention to the superior art of Austen.

Dorothy! Send an autographed Cluebat to Bina007 directly!

The Cambridge Evening News had tea with the Jane Austen Society’s Cambridge group, which is taking the film in its stride.

Audrey has mixed feelings about the film. “I think it’s an intrusion into the life of someone who’s essentially a very private person,” she says. “But the whole Jane Austen industry is just so enormous and there’s so much money in the films that there’s no stopping people. It’s no good making a to-do about it because people are going to keep on doing it.”

She has a point, but we loud, vulgar Yanks are happy to carry on with the yelling and the stamping of feet. 🙂