It took me quite a while to get into the rhythm of this adaptation of the Jane Austen novella Lady Susan, about a conniving woman, matchmaking for her daughter and/or herself. Despite the star power--starring Kate Beckinsale, directed and written by Whit Stillman, and with Chloë Sevigny in a supporting role, not nearly starring as the credits would have us believe--Jack didn't like it much, either. The language of the 1790s was slightly daunting and we had a hard time remembering who was who. We attended a special event in early March, saw an advance screening, and met Stillman (covered in Damsels in Distress) afterwards (more on that in a moment).
Beckinsale (profiled in Everybody's Fine) uses her native English accent and Sevigny (Oscar nominated for Boys Don't Cry (1999), won a 2010 Golden Globe for Big Love (2006-2011); I loved her in If These Walls Could Talk 2 (2000), American Psycho (2000), Party Monster (2003), Shattered Glass (2003), Melinda and Melinda (2004), and the 2012 series Hit & Miss) doesn't need to, as her gal pal is American. We're fans of Emma Greenwell, whose debut was as Mandy in Shameless and also starred in this year's movie Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which we didn't see, but thought the concept a hoot. When I mentioned Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to Stillman at the after-party, he was dismissive about zombies and his snobbery took him down a notch in our esteem (my faithful readers may remember that we loved the comedy Zombieland, one of Jack's favorite movies of all time. We also loved Fido (2006), a comedy about a pet zombie. So, even though we're not fans of all things undead, we have open minds. Mmm, yummy, brains!).
Recently I heard an NPR story about the movie that said that Austen's novella was told in letters, which would explain Sevigny's part as Lady Susan's confidante given so much weight.
The good news is that the wardrobe is outstanding and the women absolutely gorgeous, so kudos to the departments of costume, hair, and makeup. The locations in Ireland, standing in for England, are beautiful as well.
It opened last week and still hasn't made it here but I want to get this written before I forget any more of it. The trailer is actually quite amusing and, it seems, everyone else who has seen it loves it, as evidenced by Rotten Tomatoes scores of 99% critics and 98 audiences, not to mention this review from the New York Times. So, believe who you will, see it or not.
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