Persuasion premieres July 15 exclusively on Netflix.
When it comes to adapting a classic novel to film, there’s a pretty easy formula to stick to in terms of retaining value: it should aim to at least understand and hopefully appreciate the soul of what makes it it’s worth adapting in the first place. In the case of Netflix’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s 1817 classic Persuasion , the film instead smacks of some executive who decided that women still love that “Austen chick” and that Fleabag woman, so why not don’t mix them together with “hot actors” in fancy clothes ? Directed by Carrie Cracknell and adapted by screenwriters Ronald Bass and Alice Victoria Winslow, their version of Persuasion features the gorgeous Dakota Johnson, who transforms Ann Elliott’s inherently mousy character into a drunken, tearful and shamelessly charming lass who constantly shares her innermost thoughts right on camera , while she still longs for the man who got away. Oh, that Jane Austen who was with us today, I’d pay exorbitant amounts of money to read her notes on that script instead, because the takedown would be delicious.
If you’ve never read Austen’s Persuasion, the slow-burn book is about regret and lost love, seen through the eyes of people’s favorite Anne Elliott. Eight years ago, she was persuaded to give up the man she loved, Captain Frederick Wentworth, because her snobbish mentor and family didn’t think he was rich enough. They are both heartbroken, so he goes to sea to feed his ego while she is stuck in the role of family caretaker, reduced to the role of agonizing aunt to her horrible father and sisters. The film mostly keeps this narrative foundation of the book intact, starting eight years after the breakup, when the still-unmarried Anne and Wentworth meet again.
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The film forges its own path in presenting Anne as the shining star of her family and extended family. She’s beautiful, self-aware, mean, and quite frankly, a catch among women, so not being snapped up by another suitor is a huge logical flaw from the get-go. And when Wentworth (Cosmo Jarvis) returns to her orbit, he looks at her like he’s bewitched. There’s no hint of anger in Jarvis’ performance, just twinkling heart eyes and lots of literal sighs directed right at her. All this means is that these characters have nowhere to go, grow, or try to give us a hint of delicious romantic tension. Even Anne’s mentor, Lady Russell (Nikki Amuka-Bird), who talked her out of her engagement to Wentworth, early in this adaptation apologizes for the bad advice, which effectively removes another obstacle.
What’s left? Ann breaks the fourth wall as she grills her narcissistic father (Richard E. Grant) and her married younger sister, Mary (Mia McKenna-Bruce), for their selfish behavior, as well as a very sad girl who cries while shrinking. trinkets from her failed relationship. And then there’s a lot of anachronistic dialogue sprinkled throughout the script, such as Anne saying, “He’s a 10. I never believe a 10” about her cousin, Mr. William Elliott (Henry Golding), or Wentworth sharing that when he on the high seas in difficult situations, he often thinks, “What would Anne do?” Curiously, I had no idea there were memes in 19th century England.
Even worse, there’s a lot of Anne turned into a Bridget Jones-esque rom com heroine as she guzzles wine straight from the bottle or verbally erupts with loud, embarrassing, public proclamations about previous marriage proposals. And having Anne speak to the camera means the film leans too much on telling instead of showing, so we lose a lot of scenes where the characters could be talking to each other. The aforementioned Amuka-Bird and Golding are some of the film’s most interesting casting choices, but they’re relegated to cameos. And in the case of Golding, who is supposed to be the cousin who almost wins her heart, he gets an original story beat where he admits to Anne that his only goal is to try to keep his inheritance from her father. This is an interesting reframing of their relationship, but it makes any romance between them ridiculous. Anne is too smart to give in to a fool who has just shown all his cards, so the script cuts another interesting story to support, I guess, the love story between Anne and Wentworth. The only problem is that their chemistry is okay.
Since none of the characters have to learn anything about what caused their estrangement or have to fight to be with each other again, their romance is like watching an amiable walk in the park. It’s a home run of the original story gutted by what makes it such a satisfying book romance. And strangely, this adaptation of Wentworth is perhaps the most pared-down version of the character in any translation, as Jarvis is directed to play him quietly wistful, never showing any of the qualities that an almost admiral might possess. attitude of having loved and lost Ann .
As for the story, it might not even be an adaptation of Persuasion.
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For Austen purists, this version of Persuasion only gives up advantages when it comes to English locations and gorgeous costume design. But story-wise, it might not even be an adaptation of Persuasion. The filmmakers could have applied all their modern tropes to calmness and pissed off a lot less of their core audience. And for those who could care less about Austen than all that, it’s still a tepid offering that wants to have its aesthetic part of the time, but rejects everything else that makes a memorable work of the period . It’s schizophrenic and deconstructed to the point of being frustratingly hollow.
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