Austenland

I am not sure why this film has received such low reviews. The film opens up with Mrs. Wattlesbrook (Jane Seymour) holding a fake lamb and talking about Austenland, which I think greatly sets the tone for what type of movie this is going to be. Going into the film, I knew it had received a low score thus lowering my expectations greatly so I wasn't expecting much. It turns out I didn't need to lower my expectations, this film totally went over and above.

The critics and everyone leaving a low score have no sense of humor! It's over the top, exaggerated, hilarious, ridiculous, it's supposed to be that way! None of it is believable and once you allow yourself to enter the world of Austenland, you'll enjoy the film.

The theater possibly has a lot to do with the tone. We had a great audience, everyone was cracking up, loud uproars in all the scenes, it was hilarious. Miss Elizabeth Charming is hysterical! I really enjoyed Jennifer Coolidge's performance, she really did her usual thing and it was wonderful.

Lady Amelia Heartwright, Colonel Andrews, Captain George East all are so ridiculous and entertaining. The actors all did an amazing job. I honestly have not laughed that hard in a film in a long time. I'm talking laugh out loud, bursting, crying, snort kind of laughing. Even my husband enjoyed himself and found many of the scenes very entertaining.

I know I haven't talked much about the actual movie but bottom line: it's HILARIOUS. Go in with an open mind, allow yourself to be silly, let go of how "unrealistic" it is, and you'll be in for a treat.

I loved this film from the very start. It has an amazing sarcastic tone and is chalk full of Austen references. The over-dramatic nature of the setting and dialogue makes for a satirical manner which is very similar to Austen's original novels. The characters are all well developed and presented in a relatable way which makes it even more interesting. Miss Charming, for example, is absolutely ridiculous in her performance and each line just adds to her character. Jane Hayes, played by Keri Russell, is a really great lead in this film and gives an honest performance which helps the viewer sympathize with her. This film is based on a novel and there are several discrepancies between the novel and film, but if you love the book as much as I do, you will adore the film for it's own quirky style. For fun- look for the hidden peacock. He's hidden in a ton of scenes just off to the side.

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.

Austenland is a 2013 comedy romance film. Jane, obsessed with Pride and Prejudice, can't seem to find her perfect gentlemen. Mr. Darcy just makes every man who comes into her life seem trivial and boring. Running out of hope, Jane travels to a Jane Austen themed amusement park, hoping to find her perfect gentleman.

I cannot say why I enjoyed this so much. There was just something about it that was just so over the top and hilarious, that I couldn't help but laugh and find it funny. The acting was well done, but still over the top, but I'm definitely looking at Keri Russell as an actress to look more at in the future. I was very surprised by her acting skills, even though over the top, she did it well and brought utter life to the character of Jane, and it was absolutely brilliant.

I didn't think too much of the rest of the film past Russell's performance. The humour and romance wasn't quite my type or to my enjoyment, but as I said, because it was so over the top, I couldn't help but laugh.

However, it's rare that a film does over the top well, and I think Austenland is a perfect example of what can happen when a director gets that right. The actors all worked together, and everything just became perfect for this film in particular. I don't think another rom-com could have pulled it off as well as Austenland did.

This is a really good feel good film and I would recommend it to those who love a good rom-com. Although not my style, I could definitely see myself watching this again during a break up or a similar toned part of my life.

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.