LOVE & FRIENDSHIP (Whit Stillman). Opens Friday (May 27). See Listing. Rating: NNNN
This is writer/director Whit Stillman’s first official adaptation of Jane Austen, based on her early novel Lady Susan, but really, he’s been making Austen movies all along. His class consciousness and fondness for spiky, self-absorbed characters are utterly of a piece with the author’s work.
Kate Beckinsale, who starred in Stillman’s The Last Days Of Disco, is Susan, a widow determined to find a wealthy husband for her daughter (Morfydd Clark) in 1790s England. But Susan’s reputation precedes her, complicating both her efforts and the lives of everyone she approaches.
Deftly staged, briskly paced and very funny, thanks largely to Beckinsale’s crack timing and Tom Bennett’s breakout performance as the thick-witted but especially enthusiastic Sir James Martin, who quickly becomes entangled in Lady Susan’s transparent schemes.
Bennett conveys the constant wonder of an English setter who’s been reincarnated as a human being – an ingenious choice, and one that turns his every scene into a giddy delight. Don’t miss out.
See Whit Stillman’s Jane Austen film isn’t a snooty literature picture or get showtimes here.
