Coup de foudre à Austenland

Nothing high art or dramatic to be seen here .... which is a good thing!

This flick is a simple romantic comedy set in a Jane Austen theme park with paid actors to play roles from Austen novels. Our main character, Jane Hayes, blows her bank account to fulfill her love of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice novel by staying at the theme park hoping to find her love. That's the story all wrapped with some funny light hearted characters and situations.

But pay attention! You just might be fooled! The ending opens a new light for her and the viewer. I enjoyed the movie greatly because it's simple and fun!

When this movie first came out, I thought it looked stupid so I wouldn't give it a chance. When I was watching the 1995 BBC version of Pride & Prejudice on DVD, this was one of the previews for the movie. I checked it out and I enjoyed this silly, romantic comedy. The entire cast was phenomenal and over the top. Keri Russell's Jane Hayes thought she was nuts being obsessed with Jade Austen Pride& Prejudice all her life and she was thrown into a world called Austenland where the characters were so nuts they made her look sane. After having a midlife crisis after her loser ex boyfriend tells her he's the best shot she has at marriage. She goes nuts and spend her lifesavings to go to Austenland where she's promise to have her own Austen inspired romance. In Austenland, the line between reality and fiction becomes very blurry. JJ Feild who plays Henry Nobley, the Darcy of the group, kills it with his facial expressions and his reactions to the ridiculousness of their situation. The great thing about this movie is that it's one of those movies that each time you watch it, you find something new. It's not a straight romantic comedy with one note. It flips the script on you and gives you many twists and turns so you never truly know how it plays out. It's a cool movie to watch, then rewatch and catch things you didn't catch the first time around. But I really enjoyed this movie. The entire cast was amazing. Jennifer Coolidge as Miss Elizabeth Charming, a rich legally dumb blonde who has a heart of gold and is Jane's comedic sidechick. Bret McKenzie as the likable charmer Martin. James Callis from another Austen inspired property the Bridget Jones series plays the flamboyant Colonel Andrews. Georgia King was hilarious as another rich blonde named Lady Amelia Heartwright. Ricky Whittle who plays the sexy Captain East and also a soap star who is so sexy, he'll take off his shirt, revealing his six pack, and use it as a handkerchief to watch a ladies' mouth. Jane Seymour plays Mrs. Wattlesbrook with ease. Ayda Field is in the movie for five minutes but she nails it. It was an enjoyable movie and every actor gets their moment to shine. If you are a serious Austen fan and hate any unpure version adaption of Austen's work, you'll going to hate this movie. But if you love her work and don't mind giving sillier adaptions a chance, then you'll like or dare I say love it. And probably secretly admit to yourself only, you wish Austenland really existed. Oh, and may sure you watch the ending credits. It's a nice treat!

Jane Hayes (Keri Russell) has been most unfortunate in love. Her boyfriends up to this moment have left her cold to romance. Perhaps, it might be observed, Jane is rather selective in her search, for she is looking for the second coming of Mr. Darcy. A fan of Austen since she was thirteen, her small apartment is decorated in the Empire fashion, with a large cutout of Colin Firth in his role as Darcy. So, when a former flame comes to her place of work, telling her that he is her last, best hope, Jane hatches a desperate plan. She will sell her car and use all of her savings to buy a trip to Austenland, a dream adventure place in jolly old England. When she arrives, flush with excitement, she gets a small dash of grief. The snobby manager (Jane Seymour) chides Jane for buying the basic package, gives the American a plainer room than the other guests, and gives her the moniker Miss Erstwhile, which Jane instantly dislikes. Nevertheless, the place is lovely and the actors quite intriguing, especially one, Mr. Nobly (J.J. Field) who has the Darcy role. Alas, he brushes her off, true to the book. Thank goodness fellow guest Miss Charming (Jennifer Coolidge) becomes her bosom friend and provides great comic relief. Yet, when Jane receives criticism at dinner, she bolts out to the grounds where she meets someone who turns her head. This is Martin (Bret McKenzie), hired to take care of the horses and play a servant. Though there is really no mingling between guests and servants, Martin soon becomes Jane's special savior time and time again. Could he be the romance she has waited for all of her life? But, wait, could Mr. Nobly actually be paying more attention to our Jane? Things are becoming muddled! This lovely movie will be a joy to Austen's fans and beyond. How many superhero films have to be released, however, to merit a ladies' flick like this? Quite a few, Hollywood seems to be saying. Therefore, it is this viewer's hope that all women will rush to the closest theater to embrace Austenland in a big way. It has sumptuous costumes, a clever script, a wonderful setting, a skilled direction and enough references to the great lady herself to please most everyone.

Austenland is a Jane Austen theme park designed for Jane Austen fans to live the life of their favourite heroines. I was really hoping that this was a real place or at least could have been a real place. But for the sake of the delusional fans, it's probably best that this is not real. Jane (Keri Russell) is obsessed with Pride and Prejudice, and in doing something about it, she spends her life savings on a trip to England to Austenland.

What I didn't like about the film was the "theme park" itself. The first part was just a room decorated in tacky figurines with people insulting their customers if they didn't perfectly fit in the 1800s. Others in the theatre laughed, so I suppose that was supposed to be funny. The whole thing just seemed to be designed to make fun of people that were big fans but not "perfect" fans of Jane Austen. Our heroine, who wasn't perfect enough nor rich enough, finally got to experience part of this theme park.

They eventually get to go to an 1800s-styled mansion on a large country lot, exactly as Jane Austen's heroines lived. The theme park experience involves falling in love with a Jane Austen-styled hero – actors hired to play the part. This part works because it was all very funny. Watching Jane try to live the life but being treated like a servant, but no matter what she was determined to make the most of her stay here.

"Austenland" is of course a romantic comedy with Mr. Darcy-type characters all around ready to sweep her off her feet. It was also cleverly done since we know her love story is written for her as part of the theme park experience, Jane knows this but could easily forget it, but we (and Jane) also don't know what exactly was written and what exactly she's creating for herself. For fans of romantic comedies, it's not too hard to guess. But we still enjoy the humour and the romance that takes us there.

Disclosure: I really like "Pride & Prejudice" & usually end up enjoying romantic comedies a ton, despite never wanting to see them ahead of time.

That said, I went in to this one thinking it sounded good and was laughing hard throughout. The story is clever, the acting solid, casting is great and I walked out a huge fan of Jennifer Coolige. omg seriously, can you get any funnier? Worth seeing the movie for her alone. Without her it was still really good. Go see this movie. We even went back and saw it again - I wasn't laughing as much the second time, but appreciated it and enjoyed it again still.