Delayed Reaction: Austenland

The Pitch: Keri Russell goes to a Jane Austen themed resort.

Sometimes, you need to see a movie just so you can shake it. That's definitely the case with Austenland. I remember hearing about it a while ago and thinking "So that's what Keri Russell has been up to". This was before The Americans, mind you. It looked charming but I didn't hear anything about it after it first premiered. Yes, that's a warning sign, however my curiosity won out.

Something was off from the very beginning. I'm still having trouble placing it exactly. It's a quieter movie than I expected. I wish there was a little more of Keri Russell talking. She has a very difficult task as she's required to be both the obsessive Jane Austen fan AND the audience's suspicious eye into this world. A little more of her talking through her thoughts would've been great, even as a last resort. The film quickly tries to establish that she is a superfan of Jane Austen's to the point that it gets in the way of the rest of her life. Given that, she is disappointed by Austenland far too quickly. It seems like by day 2 she's ready to get out of there. Where's the blind love of it or the disappointment by the lack of commitment to it. She seems confused by Austenland even though with my limited Jane Austen knowledge, what she got was exactly what I would've expected. Her character is all over the place. Whatever is the most convenient for the story at a given moment.

I like Jennifer Coolidge. She's allowed a little more opportunity to do her thing than I cared for. It was too strong, too fast, but I'll take too much of her over not enough. I mean, you hire Jennifer Coolidge to get Jennifer Coolidge. Jane Seymour is fairly underused despite being pretty ideal for her role. The rest of the cast...is fine. I can't say much more than that.

I don't know much about the production of this film. Most of my issues are at a script level though, as far as I can tell. It didn't feel like it went through enough drafts. There's a lot of places where an additional pass or two could've come together better. Because, there's a good idea here. Keri Russell in a Jane Austen world, living out her own Jane Austen story has the kind of romance and nerd layering that would be easy for me to love. Austenland is a collection of small missteps that added up to make something I really didn't enjoy, despite my efforts.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend