DevikaSethi The Austen Industry ensures that almost every year there is a new production of either one of her books, or of films about how us moderns are affected by her work (The Jane Austen Book Club, Lost in Austen)almost two centuries after she lived. This film turns the spotlight away from her characters to the author herself, and does it wonderfully well: we see her as sister, daughter,and aunt, a creature of flesh and blood who is not beyond the occasional infatuation in middle age. Well cast, well acted and all that one expects from a satisfying period drama. For an hour and a half I was transported from monsoonal India to nineteenth century England -- what more can one ask for!

ThatDoesntMatter I did not care for this film at all.I found it boring and hollow.I refuse to imagine Jane Austen having been this unpleasant, sarcastic and resentful.I have read some of her letters and all of her books and just have a totally different opinion regarding her tone and character. I imagine her more friendly and cheerful, but hey, what do I know - then again, what do the filmmakers know...I'm quite angry actually, mostly for having wasted 90 minutes of my life on such dull drab without any consequence whatsoever.I'm always open to interpretations, but this is just - bad. Gee, I would have to feel sorry for her indeed if this bears any resemblance to her actual life. So I just refuse it. Unhappy she may have been at times, worried about money, even had her moments of regret as we all do, but sensible people just carry on with their lives, and she had her sense of humour for comfort (for humour creates distance, thus making everything easier). I just hear a completely different voice when I read her words, be it novels or letters.Dreadful interpretation. So all good acting and nice dresses and scenery is lost on me for the story leaves me cold - no, actually repulses me.One point for the quotes from the books ;-)

mrtraska I SO wanted to absolutely love this movie. I did. Don't get me wrong -- it got a lot right. It was on Masterpiece Theater, for heaven's sake, and the script generally tried to stay closer to the few facts we have about Austen's life. It had decent direction and adept, credible Brits portraying Jane and her family. And yet, there was one huge flaw that I just couldn't ignore. Miss Austen Regrets would have us believe that Jane had several offers of marriage during her lifetime but knowingly and deliberately chose to remain single and focus on her work. This is a 20th to 21st century conceit awkwardly imposed on a 19th century situation.The few facts we have show that Jane received only one marriage proposal during her life, and that was from someone with an irritating personality. Harris Bigg-Wither was described by Jane's niece Caroline Austen and by one of his own descendants, Reginald Bigg-Wither, as unattractive at best: he was plain, if not homely, stuttered, aggressive in conversation, and almost completely tactless. Those objectionable qualities, despite his comfortable financial position, would have put off many women, then *or* now. Had he had a more pleasing personality, Harris might have tried first for a fiancée from a more prosperous family instead of proposing to Jane.Moreover, Jane had known Harris since childhood and probably knew full well what she'd be getting into if she decided to marry him. To endure Bigg-Wither every so often at social occasions was one thing, but to marry him and have to endure that personality day in and day out would have been quite another. The simplest explanation is that Austen initially agreed to his proposal in order to be less of a burden to and/or provide for her family, but she knew him too well not to immediately regret her decision the next morning -- and thus she reneged on her acceptance in less than a day, and remained single. She probably considered that the lesser of two evils.The truth, then, is *not* that Jane Austen turned down acceptable proposals and made a conscious decision to put her writing first and stay independent, particularly given that she *never was* financially independent, but rather that no handsome, sweet-tempered, intelligent man, with or without means, ever asked her. She may have had such men as friends or acquaintances, but none of them ever proposed. If one had, remaining single would have been a much harder decision -- but that's moot, because such a man never did ask. Period. And that's a rude truth she had to suffer for all her adult life. It's not a truth that Miss Austen Regrets chose to address, however, and that is the film's greatest failing.

prncsbtrcp This was quite good. All the acting was wonderful, especially Olivia Williams. She brought all the intelligence and wit and feeling to Jane that one would expect. The last scene between Jane and Cassandra was absolutely incredible, so beautifully done. It made me wish this had been made for theatrical release instead of "Becoming Jane." The dialogue was very well written - witty where appropriate, cutting when needed, and always intelligent and natural. My only quibble is the need to show JA regretting anything. I like to imagine that she and Cassandra and their mother (and friend who lived with them in real life) all lived happily together and had even less stress and regret than was shown in the film, although I realize that wouldn't be a very long movie. Don't know why all these bio-pics feel the need to have JA's mother trying to talk her into marrying for money, I don't think there is any basis for that. However, that aside, it was very well done.I don't understand why, in the 2007/8 BBC JA fest, this and Northanger Abbey were so good, and Persuasion and Mansfield Park we so very, very bad. Couldn't they have gotten some of the people who did such a great job on these (script, camera, production) and put them on the rest? I don't have much hope for the Sense & Sensibility, but we'll see.