| Created 2007..09.22 Updated 2007.10.06 |
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The Jane Austen Book Club, a Great Date
Movie In The Jane Austen Book Club, five women and one token male reading the works of Jane Austen discover their lives intertwine with the Austen books as life imitates art. |
So how do you take the book by Karen Joy Fowler, with its deep backstory and loose plot, and make it into the screenplay The Jane Austen Book Club? "Making a movie is about the here and now", says writer-director Robin Swicord. "The structure of the book is six short stories. What's passive in the book had to be externalized to create crisis". Swicord likes to play on the similarity between rabid Jane Austen fans and over-the-top Sci-Fi fans. "Both are willing to dress up in costume at conventions", notes Swicord. The token male participant in the book club brings his Sci-Fi enthusiasm to reading Jane Austen. He shows a sympathetic male perspective.
Emily Blunt, who was perfectly fussy in The Devil Wears Prada, is Prudie, a pretentious French teacher who's never been to France. Maria Bello is Jocelyn, the matchmaker who wants everyone to be married except herself. Amy Brenneman is Sylvia, a wife dumped by her husband for a younger woman. Maggie Grace is Allegra, Sylvia's flighty lesbian daughter. Hugh Dancy is Grigg, the green-conscious bicycle-riding Sci-Fi geek. And, Kathy Baker is Bernadette, the book club organizer who's been married six times. With these misfits as the ingredients, the story comes to a delicious simmer as their lives unravel in delightful chaos. All the actors deliver excellent performances, including Sylia's ex Jimmy Smits and Prudie's sports-crazy husband Marc Blucas.
The Jane Austen Book Club was shot in California in thirty days for $6 million. Swicord had another Austen project set up at Sony with Amy Pascal when producer John Calley bought the Fowler book. Calley had just produced The Da Vinci Code. Calley asked Swicord to write and direct his Austen project. New Zealand DP John Toon, who lived in Swicord's guest house during production to cut costs on the film, shot 3-camera, often getting everything in one take. "I shot two takes always, sometimes three", says Swicord. "I didn't have to extract performance from anyone. The actors found their characters. I looked for actors from theater and television who could work fast and have natural 'small' acting."
The Jane Austen Book Club is a movie about forgiveness and repair. The movie bridges the gap between men and women. This is a chick flick the guys will enjoy, but for different reasons than Hitch or Flashdance. A great date movie.
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Release: 9.21.07 (limited)
Rating: PG-13 for mature thematic material, sexual content, brief
strong language and some drug use.
Running Time: 1 hr. 45 min.
http://www.sonyclassics.com/thejaneaustenbookclub/