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Becoming Jane
User Score
7.2 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 26 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 26
  3. Negative: 1 out of 26

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  1. LarryS.
    Aug 20, 2007
    6
    INTERESTING BUT NOT FRESH ...This Jane Austen bio is like her novels which have been overdone in recent years. We know it all by now and there are no surprises. It is nice to get a civilized film now and then.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. JohnC
    Aug 4, 2007
    8
    At first I thought I was in a remake of Pride & Prejudice, but it isn't. Very nicely done. Anne Hathaway is perfect. This definitely is a "green" film - not a "yellow".
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. NatalieR.N.
    Aug 5, 2007
    8
    Thought it was a lovely rendition of a period. Brought out feminine and class issues without hitting you over the head.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  4. G-RadA.
    Sep 3, 2007
    7
    A spectacular cast and dazzling picture.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  5. MarF.
    Jan 1, 2009
    10
    love it. It's so sad to think that Jane Austen wrote in her novels the happy ending she could't have in real life.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  6. ChrisB.
    Aug 14, 2007
    0
    Jane Austen sucks ass. Romance movies suck ass. A romance movie about Jane Austen exemplifies so much ass-sucking that the makers of this movie are risking causing the universe to implode in on itself. I think that represents my feelings.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  7. JaredC
    Aug 3, 2007
    10
    how could the critics not like this movie.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  8. gus
    Sep 3, 2007
    6
    The English in this is very proper, the manners -for the most part - beyond reproach, and the locales heavenly bosky and wind-swept, if you are into that kind of thing. But the story is a wee bit modernized, plagued by a number of themes that were cribbed from weekday afternoon soap operas rather than the heady and trying plots of Austen. Of course, there are the requisite parallels in this parade of characters to those in Austen's stories, but they are faint, marrowless reproductions. Still, I loved it and recommend it.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  9. SorronaQ
    Sep 5, 2007
    8
    A charming movie, despite it smacking you repeatedly in the face with comparisons to Pride and Prejudice.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  10. DonM.
    Sep 9, 2007
    10
    A literate script, great actors at their peak, lovely to look at, a plot (!) - who could ask fro more from a date at the movies???
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  11. JayH.
    Feb 5, 2008
    5
    5.5/10. I have to be in the mood for period romances, unfortunately I haven't been in the mood for one in years. So, I was bored to death. It was tedious, but as most films of this nature, it was also exceptionally well produced. Superb cinematography, costumes etc. I just felt I was watching it for an eternity.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  12. SarahB.
    Jul 3, 2008
    4
    A very bland movie with no heart or soul. No real chemistry between the actors. You sort of wonder if some producer type thought, "hey, we can make 'Shakespeare in Love' with Jane Austen!" What he forgot to procure, however, was a convincing script and a competent director.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  13. WilliamA.
    Aug 25, 2007
    9
    Critics sometimes are tooooo critical. The cast and excellent were excellent. Accurately portrayed the social issues of the day. Not quite a "merchant-Ivory" quality production, but very close.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  14. ChadS.
    Feb 18, 2008
    6
    According to "Becoming Jane", Austen(Anne Hathaway) wrote canonical literature for the same reason that other women read disposable romantic pap, to add a little spice to their sexless prosaic lives. Since "Becoming Jane" imitates the storyline for Austen's "Sense & Sensibility", the screenwriter intimates that the celebrated novel was a barely concealed memoir. In this sense, "Becoming Jane" has a patriarchal sensibility, by its very suggestion that Austen's calling card to the ether was a pioneering example of "me"-lit. Happy endings were par for the course in Austen novels; as was her life, a happy ending indeed, if professional success could be measured by a barometer. Although "Becoming Jane" provides a seemingly objective ending about the synchronicity between career and family, the camera sees what the rhetorical screenwriter sees, that a published novel is no match indeed for a naked hand, which tips the scales in favor of family, which makes Austen's life an unqualified failure. "Becoming Jane" leads the viewer to believe that Jane became a famous writer almost by default. Intentional or not, the film aligns itself with the spirit of the times; that a barefoot and pregnant woman is better than a witty, ironical one.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
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Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
55 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 34 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 34
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 34
  3. Negative: 0 out of 34
  1. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: David Edelstein
    50
    A bearable period chick flick with a self-congratulatory "realistic" conceit.
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  2. Variety
    Reviewed by: Derek Elley
    80
    An ersatz "Pride and Prejudice" in all but name, Becoming Jane is a finely tooled Brit-lit costumer that, like Anne Hathaway's flawless accent as the young Austen, lacks only that final convincing 5%.
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  3. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Ella Taylor
    60
    Becoming Jane turns into a presentable Harlequin romance, with hurdle after hurdle succeeded by an eleventh-hour turnaround.
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