Jan. 16, 2011
16. Persuasion (2007)
TV movie
Starring Sally Hawkins, Alice Krige, Rubert Penry-Jones
Directed by Adrian Shergold
Based on the novel by Jane Austen
Plot: “Royal Navy captain Wentworth was haughtily turned down eight years ago as suitor of pompous baronet Sir Walter Elliot’s daughter Anne, despite true love. Now he visits their former seaside country estate…” (from IMDb)
I wanted to like this movie. I really did. But there were just so many things that contributed to it being a very poor and uneven adaption. Granted, I have not read the book (someday I really should!), but I can identify what did not work here as a movie. The main problem seemed to be a bad script and/or bad direction. The characters and their motivations often felt muddled, flat or unconvincing. I was not a fan of the casting of the two main leads either, and I didn’t feel like they had sufficient chemistry together. ***SPOILERS AHEAD*** There are also a lot of things I didn’t understand: why is she dating her cousin? How does she know how to relocate collarbones? Why does she do so much running? Why is that first kiss so painfully awkward? Why did they not make more of an effort to give the leading lady attractive hair and clothes? Why does she ‘break the fourth wall’ and stare creepily at the camera? Etc… This just felt like such a half-hearted attempt.
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