Love & Jane

I love Jane Austen, I love romcoms, even Hallmark predictable ones, but this one was too boring to enjoy. While the original idea was interesting and promising, the execution was poorly made.

The main character was acting too childish for a person in their 40s. Like, I might expect that self-centered, daydreaming behaviour from someone in their 20s, maybe early 30s, but when you're a full grown up person, being arrogant and judgemental is not cute or funny. All the quirkiness seemed just cringeworthy. They "work" story is also not clear since it seemed like much fuss with the questionable result but it's normal for Hallmark people to have jobs where they don't understand what they're doing.

I feel like "Jane" character brought pretty much nothing to the plot. She was just there, but didn't inspire or do anything.

As for the chemistry - there was little of it. Probably because the characters had at most only one conversation longer than 5 minutes. The main guy tried to make the spark, but it was too difficult because the leading lady just treated him so badly every time. Still he was after her like a wet puppy. I see that they tried to make him the Darcy-esque figure, but it was probably better in paper.

Also, what is wrong with the Americans that tend to shorten everything, saying "P&P", "Pride", "Sense" etc instead of actual book names.

IN A NUTSHELL: The story is about a woman who is a literary enthusiast who works at an ad agency and runs a Jane Austen book club on the side. When she wishes Jane Austen could help her with life decisions, the famous author materializes and offers tips for love.

The Hallmark channel is featuring movies about Jane Austen fans during February. They're calling it "Love-uary." The story was written and directed by David Weaver.

THINGS I LIKED: The diverse cast includes Alison Sweeney, Benjamin Ayres, Kendra Anderson, Aadila Dosani, and more.

Many of the characters represent those in Jane Austen's books.

It's nice to see a romance with a woman who isn't 20.

If you love the famous lines in Jane Austen novels, you'll enjoy how often they're quoted in the movie. You'll definitely feel the passion for her books.

As an author of 31 books, myself, I'm always fascinated by movies about authors and where writers get their inspiration.

The last scene is pretty cute and a wink to something that Jane Austen said earlier in the film.

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE: There's an odd, dusty filter on every scene. Is that supposed to make the modern world feel old?

The dialogue feels so stilted.

So many awkward acting moments.

It takes a long time before we see Jane Austen appear in the film.

The actor who plays the Darcy character looked more like a villain than a romantic lead.

Sadly, I didn't feel any chemistry between the two leads.

A side story halts the pacing.

Lilly's character acted like a young, awkward girl rather than an older woman settled in her career.

TIPS FOR PARENTS: Kids will be extremely bored unless they're big Jane Austen fans.

We see a lot of cleavage.

Alcohol No profanity. Yay!

To see my full review, go to my YouTube channel called Movie Review Mom!

Cute, entertaining movie. When it finished I asked my wife, "Among Hallmark movies where do you put this one, upper, mid, or bottom third." She replied, "Definitely in the upper third." (We watch Hallmark movies regularly.)

Set in Boston but filmed in British Columbia, Alison Sweeney is Lilly Thorpe, working for an advertising agency. Several years earlier she had won some recognition for some writing and her ambition was to write a novel. Plus she is a big Jane Austen fan and leads a weekly Austen discussion group of ten.

To town comes Benjamin Ayres as wealthy businessman Trevor Fitzsimmon. He buys the local bookstore and Lilly's firm is to do new advertising for him. But it is also clear that Trevor is quickly smitten by Lilly. Will they become an item?

The novelty of this story is one evening Jane Austen herself appears but can only be seen and heard by Lilly. She continues to appear at future times and the two of them have meaningful conversations.

My favorite was their discussion of how long she has been dead. Lilly says "Two hundred and six years." Jane says in response, "It is two hundred six years, we must be proper." (The 'and' does not belong.) I smiled because that is a pet peeve of mine, as when a TV reporter will say something like "Three thousand and ten." The 'and' does not belong. I suspect few viewers will appreciate it as much as I did.

Anyway Allison Sweeney is always good, as a lightweight and entertaining movie it is fine. At home, streaming on Peacock.

I can't describe it any better really. It's just really strange.

I've seen these actors in other movies and I actually quite like them but there is no chemistry here. So that part of the romance movie gets scratched.

The story is imaginative, which I don't mind, but it doesn't work. I don't actually know why, I've seen this concept of someone seeing a ghost who acts as a life coach before but it doesn't work in this movie. It's distracting in a way. This is one of those concepts that you either leave untouched or you pull it off, otherwise it just makes the whole movie weird.

I feel like the relationship development between the two leads is lacking. For whatever reason, it felt dry. I didn't get the impression that they actually grew closer together on a personal level. They just "ran into each other" a bunch of times and started to be nice and civil towards each other. This makes the ending awkward. We all know how these movies end, it's a requirement for the genre, and therefore, the romantic storyline that came before has to at least work a little bit in terms of romance. They missed that boat with this movie because the romantic relationship between the leads is so dry.

In short, it's rare for me to say to skip a hallmark movie but this one is definitely not worth your time.

There have been other stories where one of the leads sees and talks to a ghost, but this story is a bit different. This story is quirky. The flow is convoluted at times. But most of all it is filled with words and quotes and hero worship. I also assume there are general references to Jane Austen without quoting, but I am no expert on Austen. At times the story is nonsensical beyond the ghost, but I think it is meant to be. I never understood what Trevor was trying to do with the bookstore.

Regarding the flow, one example is how in the middle of Lilly's story, her struggles with the presentation, her book, and her relationship, everything pauses while she plays matchmaker to her best friend. Complete pause. Everything focuses on that. And then Lilly's story is back. Other movies have a subplot like that, but the complete pause for it was distracting.

Alison Sweeney and Ben Ayers had some chemistry. It is surprising that came through because they had so little screen time together given everything else going on.

I didn't like Lilly's character, but I suspect Austen fans might find her perfect. She lives in the clouds, not to mention has a relationship with a woman dead 206 years. (Not sure of the significance of the "just 206" line.) She worships Austen like some god. Austen's wisdom trumps all logic.

Some of the acting other than Sweeney and Ayers is not good, but perhaps the overacting is intentional. There is some dialogue that many will find witty. At least the Trevor's investment idea at the end got a laugh out me.

Two more weeks of Lovuary and Jane Austen stories on Hallmark.