jimmy smits is probably my favourite screen based american president (closely followed by martin sheen and then michael douglas) so it was a shame to see him utilising very little of his acting ability in the jane austen bookclub.
I love jane austen as much as the next girl with an undergrad degree in english, but really – haven’t we had enough adaptions, inspirations etc on film and tv.
the jane austen book club was very lightweight – sure it was nice when they got together and chatted about the books, but the connecting stories were virtually non-existent. i’m just not sure what the point was here. still it was marginally better than the dreadful becoming jane – where the cliche of austen’s novels being autobiographical was on show.
I’ll be interested to watch northanger abbey on sunday evening and see what they make of it – this being my least favourite and only read once (unlike p and p and s and s). the kate beckinsale emma a couple of sundays ago was less than lovely – my knightley came across as a right pain – he always seemed to be shouting. what’s attractive about this i really don’t know!
the bbc colin firth version of pride and prejudice is still the standout (in spite of those kitschy monologues when elizabeth imagines mr darcy talking to her in the mirror etc). and alan rickman’s colonel brandon is pretty good too in emma thompson’s sense and sensibility. one of the best things about that film is the soundtrack…beautiful songs.