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Reviews Counted:110
Fresh:72
Rotten:38
Average Rating:6.1/10
Consensus: Though at times formulaic and sentimental, Jane Austen Book Club succeeds on the strength of its likable ensemble cast. Even those not familiar with Jane Austen's work may find much to enjoy this lighthearted romance.
Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins
Genre: Romance, Women, Based On A Novel, Theatrical Release
US Box Office: $3,334,613
Synopsis: Life imitates art in this adaptation of Karen Joy Fowler's bestselling novel about a book group reading the work of Jane Austen. Each of the people in the group is at a different stage of life:... [More]
Starring: Kathy Baker, Maria Bello, Marc Blucas, Emily Blunt
Director: Robin Swicord
The real disappointment is the paint-by-numbers flatness of the contemporary stories and characters; it’s hard to care much about Sylvia and Prudie with Elizabeth Bennett and Emma Woodhouse hovering in the wings.
The cast's performances and Swicord's sense of tone give it just enough charm to work.
The film lacks the thing that Austen does so well in her books: the ability to examine a small social clique with a sharply observant eye, a clear ironic wit and an insider's full knowledge of how this social unit works.
Director Robin Swicord introduces just enough hustle and bustle to demonstrate that the romantic joys and negotiations found in Austen's plots can survive in any era or setting.
This marvelously intelligent romantic comedy will captivate even those who don't know or care much about Austen, although there's undeniably an extra layer of pure delight to be found if you do.
An intermittently amusing but mostly improbable comedy about romantically challenged women who devote six months to reading and discussing all six of Austen’s early-19th-century novels.
Unlike so many chick flicks that celebrate female solidarity as a concept without ever making us feel it, The Jane Austen Book Club is convincingly feminist in a nonpolitical way.
When The Jane Austen Book Club comes to DVD, it will be perfect for the media rack at Starbucks.
With all the reflected glory from Austen's books, the movie never truly shines on its own.
...a Hollywood-glossy, featherbrained chick flick...
Utterly pat but never insulting, 'The Jane Austen Book Club' offers cinematic comfort food for sympathetic viewers.
...light as a robin's skull, The Jane Austen Book Club is a precision-crafted, designer-tasteful technology for delivering comfort. Breezy and pretty, it flatters all who would bathe in its dancing light. You have to like it, even if you think Austen is t
You don't have to have a library card to enjoy this story.
One gets to the end of the film believing in the redemptive power of love, as well as the excitement of reading a good book.
It's a sprawling story of heartbreak and friendship, and while it doesn't pack true passion, it has a fireside, knitted-sweater charm about it that creates an affable viewing experience.
One won't learn much about Austen from this film, and Austen purists may pop their corsets at the license taken. But Austen's books were part of the popular culture of her time, and the film is in that tradition.
You need neither a deep appreciation for author Jane Austen nor an understanding of her six novels to recognize that The Jane Austen Book Club stinks.
The Jane Austen Book Club simply doesn't know when to shut up. That's true -- for the movie as a whole and for the characters.
The film has an undeniable, easygoing charm. Real life is seldom so pleasingly plotted, but then real life is what people go to movies like this to get away from.
The movie is a big improvement over the wispy novel, which teetered between being cutesy and being cloying.
October 07, 2007:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: Rock Defeats Heartbreak Kid To Defend Box Office Title
Ben Stiller's new comedy The Heartbreak Kid stumbled in its opening frame and forced the overall box office to plunge to the worst October weekend in eight years. Incumbent... More...
October 04, 2007:
Critical Consensus: Heartbreak Needs Discipline, Jane Worth Perusing, Seeker Reeks
This week at the movies, we've got honeymooners (The Heartbreak Kid, starring Ben Stiller and Michelle Monhagan), teenage heroes (The Seeker, starring Alexander Ludwig),... More...
September 20, 2007:
Critical Consensus: Chuck is No Good, Sydney White is No Fairy Tale, Eastern Exceeds Promises
This week at the movies, we've got cursed couples (Good Luck Chuck, starring Dane Cook and Jessica Alba), a collegiate Snow White (Sydney White, starring Amanda Bynes), the... More...
September 12, 2007:
Maria Bello Talks Mummy 3
While promoting The Jane Austen Book Club at the Toronto International Film Festival, Maria Bello talked to reporters about her role in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. More...
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