Becoming Jane

Apparently, Jane Austen was incredibly boring. Or at least that’s the impression that Becoming Jane gives. Its story, which has some claims to truth, is nonetheless a banal boy-meets-girl boilerplate. It even has Jane uttering of the man she will no doubt soon fall in love with: “He’s the most disgraceful, arrogant, insufferable man!” Gee, I wonder if she’ll get in an argument with him and then end up kissing him. The love interest, Tom Lefroy, is ably played by the overly talented James McAvoy (The Last King of Scotland), and Jane is reasonably well handled by the yet-to-prove-herself Anne Hathaway. Much better is the supporting cast: Laurence Fox does a star turn as the stuttering, nerdy and surprisingly deep Mr. Wisley, who tries to court Jane the old-fashioned way: by flashing the bling. James Cromwell, Maggie Smith and Julie Walters round out the senior wing of the cast, but none of them can overcome the bland script and limp story. Too bad, because the wallpaper is gorgeous.