Jane Austen Wrecked My Life

Review by Ryan Michael Painter

The French have a particularly odd sense of romance that tends to involve a great amount of awkwardness, ineptitude, and self-inflicted tragedy. These are the comedies.

Jane Austen Wrecked My Life (Sony Pictures Classics)

98 Minutes, Rated R

Written and Directed by Laura Piani

Synopsis:

Agathe (Camille Rutherford) is a hopelessly clumsy yet charming young woman who works in the legendary Shakespeare & Co. bookshop in Paris, while she dreams of being a successful writer, and of experiencing love akin to a Jane Austen novel, she finds herself desperately single and plagued by writers block. When Agathe’s best friend (Pablo Pauly) gets her invited to the Jane Austen Writers’ Residency in England, she finally has her Jane Austen moment…and is caught in a very unexpected romantic triangle. Agathe must let go of her insecurities to decide what she really wants for herself, and to achieve her romantic and professional dreams.

Jane Austen Wrecked My Life sees Agathe (Camille Rutherford), a writer who works in a renown bookstore, offered the chance to fulfill her dreams when she is invited to take part in the Jane Austen Writers’ Residency.

She doesn’t want to go. There are flimsy excuses. You might suspect that the reason has more to do with the co-worker who arranged for her to attend. She’d dismiss this claim even though his intentions are clear. Besides, she’s suffering from writer’s block and her work isn’t up to standard anyway. No, Agathe won’t be going. But of course, Agathe will be going.

Seeing as “Jane Austen” is in the title of the film, it should be clear that from the moment she arrives at the residency possible suitors appear. In traditional Austen fashion, the suitors don’t initially realize their role. They’ll figure it out. The real question is if Agatha will do the same. More importantly, will she ever sit down to write?

It might surprise you to learn that despite being populated by frustrated characters who don’t know what they want the film itself isn’t frustrating. Formulaic, yes. When you name check Austen in your title, you are either going to play with the rules she established or dramatically break from convention. Jane Austen Wrecked My Life updates them and then slips in a themed ball to demonstrate just how much Austen influence is within the narrative.

Performances are good, script and direction by Laura Aiani are strong. It’s not a reinvention as much as it is a wrinkle or twist. An easy recommendation for Austen fans who want to see the author’s mannerisms in the modern world mixed a bit of fatalistic French flair to give it a little spice.

I don’t tend to think of myself as a Austen fan, but my love for many of the cinematic adaptations of her work suggests otherwise. I found Jane Austen Wrecked My Life to be lively and amusing.

Now, if you’ll pardon me, I’m off to work on a screenplay tentatively titled F. Scott Fitzgerald Distorted My Perspective.

Jane Austen Wrecked My Life is now in theaters and stars Camille Rutherford, Pablo Pauly, and Charlie Anson.

And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.

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