Muse Entertainment has acquired the rights to Sarah Selecky’s novel “Radiant Shimmering Light” with plans to develop it for television, Variety has learned exclusively.
The story follows Lilian Quick, a 40-year-old struggling pet portrait artist whose life changes drastically when she starts working for her motivational guru cousin, Eleven Novak. The job helps Lilian improve her finances, connect with her inner feminine power, and publicly confront a love affair gone wrong, which explodes her online following. Lilian is indebted to Eleven for all her success, but is Eleven really looking out for Lilian’s best interests?
Stephanie Kornick, who was most recently a staff writer on “Transparent,” is attached to write the series adaptation. Muse Entertainment’s Joel Rice, Michael Prupas, and Lydia Storie will serve as executive producers. Meghan Mathes Jacobs will serve as co-producer.
“At Muse Entertainment we are always drawn to stories that resonate, and now...
The story follows Lilian Quick, a 40-year-old struggling pet portrait artist whose life changes drastically when she starts working for her motivational guru cousin, Eleven Novak. The job helps Lilian improve her finances, connect with her inner feminine power, and publicly confront a love affair gone wrong, which explodes her online following. Lilian is indebted to Eleven for all her success, but is Eleven really looking out for Lilian’s best interests?
Stephanie Kornick, who was most recently a staff writer on “Transparent,” is attached to write the series adaptation. Muse Entertainment’s Joel Rice, Michael Prupas, and Lydia Storie will serve as executive producers. Meghan Mathes Jacobs will serve as co-producer.
“At Muse Entertainment we are always drawn to stories that resonate, and now...
- 12/17/2018
- by Joe Otterson
- Variety Film + TV
HBO has been firing on all cylinders lately, throwing at us some of the finest television that we’ve seen in ages. With critics currently singing the praises of The Night Of, the network has now ordered up another mystery series in the form of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, and they’ve brought in Natalie Portman to star.
Adapted from Karen Joy Fowler’s award-winning novel of the same name, Variety describes the plot as follows:
The story centers on college student Rosemary Cooke (Portman), whose “twin sister” disappeared when she was five years old, with her older brother following not long after.
Said to be twist-heavy, having not read the book myself I can’t comment much more on what happens, but from what I’ve heard it’s supposed to be quite a good story and one which will no doubt make for compelling television.
Friends...
Adapted from Karen Joy Fowler’s award-winning novel of the same name, Variety describes the plot as follows:
The story centers on college student Rosemary Cooke (Portman), whose “twin sister” disappeared when she was five years old, with her older brother following not long after.
Said to be twist-heavy, having not read the book myself I can’t comment much more on what happens, but from what I’ve heard it’s supposed to be quite a good story and one which will no doubt make for compelling television.
Friends...
- 8/8/2016
- by Josh Wilding
- We Got This Covered
Disney and James Ponsoldt (The End of Tour) are teaming up on Wild City, a "CG/live-action hybrid" which "explores the adventures of Los Angeles’ wild animals," according to the Hollywood Reporter's Rebecca Ford. HBO's ordered up another comedy from Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass and an adaptation of Karen Joy Fowler’s novel We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves headed up by Natalie Portman and producer Marta Kauffman (Grace and Frankie). Joel Edgerton is in early talks to join Jennifer Lawrence the spy thriller Red Sparrow. Anthony Mackie is joining John Boyega, Will Poulter, Ben O’Toole and Jack Reynor in Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal's as-yet-untitled film about the 1967 Detroit riots. And we have news of more projects in the works. » - David Hudson...
- 8/5/2016
- Keyframe
Disney and James Ponsoldt (The End of Tour) are teaming up on Wild City, a "CG/live-action hybrid" which "explores the adventures of Los Angeles’ wild animals," according to the Hollywood Reporter's Rebecca Ford. HBO's ordered up another comedy from Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass and an adaptation of Karen Joy Fowler’s novel We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves headed up by Natalie Portman and producer Marta Kauffman (Grace and Frankie). Joel Edgerton is in early talks to join Jennifer Lawrence the spy thriller Red Sparrow. Anthony Mackie is joining John Boyega, Will Poulter, Ben O’Toole and Jack Reynor in Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal's as-yet-untitled film about the 1967 Detroit riots. And we have news of more projects in the works. » - David Hudson...
- 8/5/2016
- Fandor: Keyframe
Following up her directorial debut “A Tale Of Love And Darkness,” which hits theaters this month, and her upcoming Oscar contender “Jackie,” Natalie Portman is eyeing the small screen and is set to star in the HBO mystery miniseries “We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves.” The project is based on Karen Joy Fowler’s award-winning novel of the same name and is being developed by “Friends” and “Grace and Frankie” showrunner Marta Kaufman and her production company Okay Goodnight.
Read More: Watch: Natalie Portman Seizes the Director’s Chair in Striking ‘A Tale of Love and Darkness’ Trailer
The story is being described as a “twist-heavy tale” and centers around university student Rosemary Cooke, whose twin sister unexpectedly disappeared at the age of 5. “Temple Grandin” screenwriter Christopher Monger will pen the adaptation, while Gideon Raff of “Homeland” is already on board as an executive producer. Further plot details are being kept under wraps.
Read More: Watch: Natalie Portman Seizes the Director’s Chair in Striking ‘A Tale of Love and Darkness’ Trailer
The story is being described as a “twist-heavy tale” and centers around university student Rosemary Cooke, whose twin sister unexpectedly disappeared at the age of 5. “Temple Grandin” screenwriter Christopher Monger will pen the adaptation, while Gideon Raff of “Homeland” is already on board as an executive producer. Further plot details are being kept under wraps.
- 8/5/2016
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Marta Kauffman will adapt Karen Joy Fowler’s bestselling novel “We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves” as a miniseries at HBO, and Natalie Portman is attached to star and executive to produce, TheWrap has learned. The series, which has been ordered to script, will follow Portman as Rosemary Cooke, a college student who was raised with a chimpanzee she thought of as her “twin sister.” Christopher Monger is writing the adaptation and will also executive produce alongside Portman and Kauffman, as well as Gideon Raff. Okay Goodnight’s Robbie Tollin will also executive produce, and Hannah Ks Canter is a co-producer.
- 8/5/2016
- by Linda Ge
- The Wrap
Exclusive: Marta Kauffman, whose Grace and Frankie is wrapping production on its third season, is ramping up the slate of her Okay Goodnight, which is behind the popular Netflix comedy series starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. Kauffman and Okay Goodnight have miniseries We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves in development at HBO. Natalie Portman is attached to star in and executive produce the project, based on Karen Joy Fowler's award-winning novel of the same name…...
- 8/5/2016
- Deadline TV
For the first time since it was established in 1969, the Man Booker Prize is open to authors from outside the British Commonwealth. And it shows, with only one author on the list of 13 coming from a Commonwealth nation. (That would be Australia's Richard Flanagan.) Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch, which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in April, was nowhere to be found. Joshua Ferris, U.S.To Rise Again at a Decent Hour Siri Hustvedt, U.S.The Blazing World Richard Powers, U.S. Orfeo Karen Joy Fowler, U.S.We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves Richard Flanagan, AustraliaThe Narrow Road to the Deep North Howard Jacobson, Great BritainJ Neel Mukherjee, Great BritainThe Lives of Others Paul Kingsnorth, Great BritainThe Wake David Mitchell, Great Britain The Bone Clocks David Nicholls, Great BritainUs Ali Smith, Great BritainHow to Be Both Joseph O'Neill, Ireland (but lives in the U.S.)The Dog Niall Williams,...
- 7/23/2014
- by Gilbert Cruz
- Vulture
The Academy's Board of Governors has elected screenwriter Robin Swicord ("Memoirs of a Geisha," "Little Women" ) to replace the late Frank Pierson and represent the Writers Branch along with Bill Condon and Phil Robinson. She will serve until the next election, which is in June of next year. She joins the few women on the board of 43; they are Academy CEO Dawn Hudson, first vice president Cheryl Boone-Isaacs, vice president Kathleen Kennedy, producer Gale Anne Hurd, actress Annette Bening, editor Anne V. Coates, directors Kathryn Bigelow and Lisa Cholodenko and designer Rosemary Brandberg. Swicord (along with Eric Roth) was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for "Benjamin Button" and made her directorial debut in 2007 with "The Jane Austen Book Club," which she also adapted from Karen Joy Fowler's novel. Her daughter Zoe Kazan just wrote and starred in "Ruby Sparks."...
- 9/20/2012
- by Sophia Savage
- Thompson on Hollywood
I am a bad SFnal blogger, since these nominees were announced a good two weeks ago. (Perhaps I delayed because I believe, based on my own Wfa judge experience, that the winners in all categories have already been determined, and so most of the nominees are doomed to forlorn hopes.)
Anyway, congratulations to all of the nominees, and good luck to them. I leave the annual exercise of determining which two entries in each category were voted on by the convention membership and which were picked by the judges to fandom assembled.
Novel
Those Across the River, Christopher Buehlman (Ace) 11/22/63, Stephen King (Scribner; Hodder & Stoughton as 11.22.63) A Dance with Dragons, George R.R. Martin (Bantam; Harper Voyager UK) Osama, Lavie Tidhar (Ps Publishing) Among Others, Jo Walton (Tor)
Novella
“Near Zennor”, Elizabeth Hand (A Book of Horrors) “A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong”, K.J. Parker (Subterranean Winter 2011) “Alice Through...
Anyway, congratulations to all of the nominees, and good luck to them. I leave the annual exercise of determining which two entries in each category were voted on by the convention membership and which were picked by the judges to fandom assembled.
Novel
Those Across the River, Christopher Buehlman (Ace) 11/22/63, Stephen King (Scribner; Hodder & Stoughton as 11.22.63) A Dance with Dragons, George R.R. Martin (Bantam; Harper Voyager UK) Osama, Lavie Tidhar (Ps Publishing) Among Others, Jo Walton (Tor)
Novella
“Near Zennor”, Elizabeth Hand (A Book of Horrors) “A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong”, K.J. Parker (Subterranean Winter 2011) “Alice Through...
- 8/28/2012
- by Andrew Wheeler
- Comicmix.com
They were announced this past weekend at the World Fantasy Convention (where else?), held this year in beautiful, sunny San Diego.
Since I’ve been a judge for this award (a few years back now; the scars have completely healed), I’ve got a higher regard for the winners, and now I really need to track down a copy of Who Fears Death.
Congratulations to all of the winners. And, to the judges: you can relax now, and read something you want to, for a change.
Novel: Who Fears Death? by Nnedi Okorafor (Daw)
Novella: “The Maiden Flight of McCauley’s Bellerophon” by Elizabeth Hand (Stories: All-New Tales)
Short Story: “Fossil-Figures” by Joyce Carol Oates (Stories: All-New Tales)
Anthology: My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me, edited by Kate Bernheimer & Carmen Gimenez Smith (Penguin)
Collection: What I Didn’t See and Other Stories by Karen Joy Fowler...
Since I’ve been a judge for this award (a few years back now; the scars have completely healed), I’ve got a higher regard for the winners, and now I really need to track down a copy of Who Fears Death.
Congratulations to all of the winners. And, to the judges: you can relax now, and read something you want to, for a change.
Novel: Who Fears Death? by Nnedi Okorafor (Daw)
Novella: “The Maiden Flight of McCauley’s Bellerophon” by Elizabeth Hand (Stories: All-New Tales)
Short Story: “Fossil-Figures” by Joyce Carol Oates (Stories: All-New Tales)
Anthology: My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me, edited by Kate Bernheimer & Carmen Gimenez Smith (Penguin)
Collection: What I Didn’t See and Other Stories by Karen Joy Fowler...
- 11/3/2011
- by Andrew Wheeler
- Comicmix.com
There are some high-end commercial novels with inflated literary reputations that actually become better on screen. Karen Joy Fowler’s strained chick-lit novel The Jane Austen Book Club was improved in Robin Swicord’s lived-in film. Now The Help has become an even more effective, big warm bath of a crowd-pleaser than Kathryn Stockett’s megaselling novel, a book that flirts uncomfortably with condescension and caricature. The Help has no artistic ambition, but with one huge exception, the movie avoids the novel's lethal pitfalls. Stockett’s hard-to-resist story, set in Jackson, Miss. in 1963, covers every black-and-white base, both racially and in terms of…...
- 8/8/2011
- James on ScreenS
The winners of the World Fantasy Awards have been announced: Novel: The City & The City, China Miéville (Macmillan UK/ Del Rey); Novella: "Sea-Hearts" by Margo Lanagan (X6 ); Short Story: "The Pelican Bar" by Karen Joy Fowler (Eclipse Three); Anthology: American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny: From Poe to the Pulps/From the 1940s to Now edited by Peter Straub (Library of America) Interesting. Stephen Fry has been reprimanded for posting Tweets of the Harry Potter set -- and now the Tweets have mysteriously vanished. I'm deliberately ignoring the success (or failure) of this weekend's Saw 7 3D.
- 10/31/2010
- thetorchonline
Sarah Langan, as a new advisor for the Shirley Jackson Awards, is stoked about her recent Bram Stoker Award and mentions in Ellen Datlow’s Anthology, The Best Horror of the Year, 2009 (her short stories Fenstad’s End, The Burn Victim, The Dark Materials Project, and The Agathas) and says,
"Remember how 'SNL' used to be dominated by men, and then the ladies came along? It feels like that. A total sea change."
The Shirly Jackson Awards came out with the final ballot last week, and so many of the literary nominations are written by women, including The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters and The Red Tree by Caitlin R. Kiernan...
For Nest Novel: The Little Stranger, Sarah Waters (Riverhead) The Owl Killers, Karen Maitland (Delacorte Press) The Red Tree, Caitlin R. Kiernan (Roc) White is for Witching, Helen Oyeyemi (Nan A. Talese).
For Best Novella: The Language of Dying,...
"Remember how 'SNL' used to be dominated by men, and then the ladies came along? It feels like that. A total sea change."
The Shirly Jackson Awards came out with the final ballot last week, and so many of the literary nominations are written by women, including The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters and The Red Tree by Caitlin R. Kiernan...
For Nest Novel: The Little Stranger, Sarah Waters (Riverhead) The Owl Killers, Karen Maitland (Delacorte Press) The Red Tree, Caitlin R. Kiernan (Roc) White is for Witching, Helen Oyeyemi (Nan A. Talese).
For Best Novella: The Language of Dying,...
- 4/19/2010
- by Superheidi
- Planet Fury
In my nerdy travels I've never read Jane Austen, although her books seep into our consciousness from nearly every angle, the most obvious being repeated and high-quality movie versions. My very favorite of these is Ang Lee's adaptation of Sense and Sensibility starring Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet. Because wow. Unfortunately I hold a serious grudge against the Brontes that accidentally overflowed into Austen, and someday hope to get over it like a grownup and read at least one of her books.
The Jane Austen Book Club is a lovely book, classy and smart, full of interesting female characters. Author Karen Joy Fowler opens with a short description of the version of Austen each person in the book club hopes to read (a romantic? an independent spirit? a means by which to make sense?), and she peppers their conversations in the book with legitimate literary opinions. The most wonderful and...
The Jane Austen Book Club is a lovely book, classy and smart, full of interesting female characters. Author Karen Joy Fowler opens with a short description of the version of Austen each person in the book club hopes to read (a romantic? an independent spirit? a means by which to make sense?), and she peppers their conversations in the book with legitimate literary opinions. The most wonderful and...
- 12/30/2009
- by Dustin Rowles
My affection for fictional characters knows no sexual orientation — but I do have a queer sixth sense when I watch TV and movies: I see gay people.
It was no surprise, then, that Drew Barrymore's grrrl-powered roller derby flick, Whip It, played itself out on two levels in my mind when I saw it last weekend. The first was Bliss Cavendar's (Ellen Page) coming-of-age story. The second was Bliss Cavendar's subversively sexual coming out story.
What is surprising is that Jeremy Clyman, a columnist at Psychology Today, agrees with me. He wrote an article about Whip It on Psychology Today's Side Reel blog entitled "Lesbian Fantasy, Disguised."
In it he says:
[Whip It] purports to be the story of a small town adolescent who rebels and finds her genuine identity as roller derby star athlete. But I think this film is also a secret communication to closeted lesbians living in hostile...
It was no surprise, then, that Drew Barrymore's grrrl-powered roller derby flick, Whip It, played itself out on two levels in my mind when I saw it last weekend. The first was Bliss Cavendar's (Ellen Page) coming-of-age story. The second was Bliss Cavendar's subversively sexual coming out story.
What is surprising is that Jeremy Clyman, a columnist at Psychology Today, agrees with me. He wrote an article about Whip It on Psychology Today's Side Reel blog entitled "Lesbian Fantasy, Disguised."
In it he says:
[Whip It] purports to be the story of a small town adolescent who rebels and finds her genuine identity as roller derby star athlete. But I think this film is also a secret communication to closeted lesbians living in hostile...
- 10/13/2009
- by stuntdouble
- AfterEllen.com
Before she became a superstar with The Jane Austen Book Club, Karen Joy Fowler was a novelist with critical acclaim and a few awards under her belt. That's shorthand for "beloved by the literati, but doesn't move many units." Now that Jane Austen has changed that, who will Fowler become? Does her newfound fame lead toward a career as a chick-lit author, a genre master, or a regional favorite? Or does it lead back to her previous mid-level literary success? Wit's End, Fowler's new novel, doesn't exactly answer those questions. It's neither fish nor Fowler, in a way—a riff on the mystery genre that tries to internalize the usual murders into an exploration of an orphan's fragile psyche. Thanks to Fowler's incisive voice and pithy wit, it's a pleasant read. And yet it's too slight for the literary crowd, and too meandering for the mystery buffs. Rima, the novel's.
- 5/15/2008
- by Donna Bowman
- avclub.com
Toronto International Film Festival
The more familiar you are with the hugely readable novels of Jane Austen, one of the most influential masters of English literature, the richer your experience with The Jane Austen Book Club will be. Yet like the male characters in the movie -- who might well confuse her name with the capital of Texas -- ignorance is only a slight drawback. The film's characters are lively, the women all look terrific (the guys do too, for that matter), and its many romantic story threads weave into artfully told tales of love lost and found.
This is a chick flick with a vengeance, of course, but the audience for these films is not insignificant. A smart, animated cast helps to make up for the predictability and slight preciousness of what is, after all, a literary conceit better suited for the printed page. While the film presents a marketing challenge for Sony Pictures Classics, it should do extremely well on DVD.
In her lifetime, Austen (1775-1817) wrote six novels. Thus, six is the key number for director Robin Swicord, the well-known screenwriter transitioning here to directing, and for Karen Joy Fowler, who wrote the popular novel of the same name. Set in and around California's capital city of Sacramento, the story concerns six book club members who meet over six months to discuss each of Austen's six books.
Each story line plays off an Austen story. Characters comment on the various novels from the perspective of current romantic joys or woes, offering different interpretations of the actions and secret lives of the books' characters. So whatever the shortcomings of this literary construct, it remains a joy to experience a movie so in love with good writing.
The spiritual center of the film is Kathy Baker's Bernadette, a spry woman in her late 50s who has been married and divorced -- yes, six times. She forms the book club to distract her grieving friend, dog breeder Jocelyn (Maria Bello), who has lost her prize Rhodesian Ridgeback.
Meanwhile, Jocelyn sees the club as a means to occupy her inconsolable friend, Sylvia (Amy Brenneman), who is going through a traumatic divorce to Daniel (Jimmy Smits). Ditto Sylvia's lesbian daughter Allegra (Maggie Grace), who joins the club to support her mom even as she gets her own romantic life squared away. All the while, Allegra participates in extreme sports her parents know nothing about.
Prudie (Emily Blunt) is the emotional wreck of the bunch and the least sympathetic character. A high-school French teacher who has never been to France, she has married Dean (Marc Blucas), a young man with whom she has absolutely nothing in common. So she wallows in self-pity, chastises him in front of friends and considers going to bed with a student (Kevin Zegers, who fortunately doesn't look like a student, being the same age as Blunt).
The male ringer in the book club is Grigg (Hugh Dancy), recruited by Jocelyn in hopes he might date Sylvia when clearly his romantic gaze is fixed on her. This predictability is fairly typical of nearly all the plot lines. Character arcs are predetermined and heavily reliant on Austen's.
Beyond Swicord's rigged plots (courtesy of her source material, of course) is their all-too-neat tidiness. Every character walks on stage at just the right moment. Everyone has a well-defined role to play. Every plot line is destined for a happy ending without a flicker of concern about how real life works. This is art imitating art.
In the film's one moment of surreal whimsy, a traffic light flashes What Would Jane Do at a character. In the end, Austen controls things much too much. The modern world is much different than Regency England, a point made during the opening credits that portray modern life as nerve-racking and mean-spirited. The film needs to take into account those differences. Someone needs to violate the Jane Austen Code of Ethics and Behavior. No one does.
Tech credits are pro.
THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB
Sony Pictures Classics
A John Calley/Robin Swicord production in association with Mockingbird Pictures
Credits:
Writer/director: Robin Swicord
Based on the novel by: Karen Joy Fowler
Producers: John Calley, Julie Lynn, Diana Napper
Executive producer: Marshall Rose
Director of photography: John Toon
Production designer: Rusty Smith
Music: Aaron Zigman
Co-producer: Kelly Thomas
Costume designer: Johnetta Boone
Editor: Maryann Brandon
Cast:
Jocelyn: Maria Bello
Prudie: Emily Blunt
Bernadette: Kathy Baker
Sylvia: Amy Brenneman
Allegra: Maggie Grace
Daniel
Jimmy Smits
Grigg: Hugh Dancy
Dean: Marc Blucas
Trey: Kevin Zegers
Sky: Lynn Redgrave
Running time -- 103 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
The more familiar you are with the hugely readable novels of Jane Austen, one of the most influential masters of English literature, the richer your experience with The Jane Austen Book Club will be. Yet like the male characters in the movie -- who might well confuse her name with the capital of Texas -- ignorance is only a slight drawback. The film's characters are lively, the women all look terrific (the guys do too, for that matter), and its many romantic story threads weave into artfully told tales of love lost and found.
This is a chick flick with a vengeance, of course, but the audience for these films is not insignificant. A smart, animated cast helps to make up for the predictability and slight preciousness of what is, after all, a literary conceit better suited for the printed page. While the film presents a marketing challenge for Sony Pictures Classics, it should do extremely well on DVD.
In her lifetime, Austen (1775-1817) wrote six novels. Thus, six is the key number for director Robin Swicord, the well-known screenwriter transitioning here to directing, and for Karen Joy Fowler, who wrote the popular novel of the same name. Set in and around California's capital city of Sacramento, the story concerns six book club members who meet over six months to discuss each of Austen's six books.
Each story line plays off an Austen story. Characters comment on the various novels from the perspective of current romantic joys or woes, offering different interpretations of the actions and secret lives of the books' characters. So whatever the shortcomings of this literary construct, it remains a joy to experience a movie so in love with good writing.
The spiritual center of the film is Kathy Baker's Bernadette, a spry woman in her late 50s who has been married and divorced -- yes, six times. She forms the book club to distract her grieving friend, dog breeder Jocelyn (Maria Bello), who has lost her prize Rhodesian Ridgeback.
Meanwhile, Jocelyn sees the club as a means to occupy her inconsolable friend, Sylvia (Amy Brenneman), who is going through a traumatic divorce to Daniel (Jimmy Smits). Ditto Sylvia's lesbian daughter Allegra (Maggie Grace), who joins the club to support her mom even as she gets her own romantic life squared away. All the while, Allegra participates in extreme sports her parents know nothing about.
Prudie (Emily Blunt) is the emotional wreck of the bunch and the least sympathetic character. A high-school French teacher who has never been to France, she has married Dean (Marc Blucas), a young man with whom she has absolutely nothing in common. So she wallows in self-pity, chastises him in front of friends and considers going to bed with a student (Kevin Zegers, who fortunately doesn't look like a student, being the same age as Blunt).
The male ringer in the book club is Grigg (Hugh Dancy), recruited by Jocelyn in hopes he might date Sylvia when clearly his romantic gaze is fixed on her. This predictability is fairly typical of nearly all the plot lines. Character arcs are predetermined and heavily reliant on Austen's.
Beyond Swicord's rigged plots (courtesy of her source material, of course) is their all-too-neat tidiness. Every character walks on stage at just the right moment. Everyone has a well-defined role to play. Every plot line is destined for a happy ending without a flicker of concern about how real life works. This is art imitating art.
In the film's one moment of surreal whimsy, a traffic light flashes What Would Jane Do at a character. In the end, Austen controls things much too much. The modern world is much different than Regency England, a point made during the opening credits that portray modern life as nerve-racking and mean-spirited. The film needs to take into account those differences. Someone needs to violate the Jane Austen Code of Ethics and Behavior. No one does.
Tech credits are pro.
THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB
Sony Pictures Classics
A John Calley/Robin Swicord production in association with Mockingbird Pictures
Credits:
Writer/director: Robin Swicord
Based on the novel by: Karen Joy Fowler
Producers: John Calley, Julie Lynn, Diana Napper
Executive producer: Marshall Rose
Director of photography: John Toon
Production designer: Rusty Smith
Music: Aaron Zigman
Co-producer: Kelly Thomas
Costume designer: Johnetta Boone
Editor: Maryann Brandon
Cast:
Jocelyn: Maria Bello
Prudie: Emily Blunt
Bernadette: Kathy Baker
Sylvia: Amy Brenneman
Allegra: Maggie Grace
Daniel
Jimmy Smits
Grigg: Hugh Dancy
Dean: Marc Blucas
Trey: Kevin Zegers
Sky: Lynn Redgrave
Running time -- 103 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 9/10/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
- Prepping for the very busy September calender competition and perhaps getting a leg up on its possible Toronto Film Festival splash, Sony Pictures Classics have sent us various trailers for their September 21st release - a book to film project that Sony optioned back in 04'. Directed by Robin Swincord, The Jane Austen Book Club is based on Karen Joy Fowler's best-selling novel. As five women and one enigmatic man meet to discuss the works of Jane Austen, they find their love lives playing out in a 21st century version of her novels. Sylvia (Amy Brenneman), is shocked when her husband Daniel (Jimmy Smits), leaves her after 20 plus years and three children. Jocelyn (Maria Bello), her unmarried best friend, distracts herself from her unacknowledged loneliness by breeding dogs. Prudie (Emily Blunt) is a young French teacher, in possession of a worthy husband yet distracted by persistent fantasies about sex with another man.
- 7/12/2007
- IONCINEMA.com
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