"Love & Friendship" Review

Acclaimed writer/director Whit Stillman (The Last Days of Disco) returns to the screen with his fifth feature Love & Friendship, a charming - albeit often stuffy - adaptation of Jane Austen's novella "Lady Susan."

Mourning the death of her husband, Lady Susan Vernon (Kate Beckinsale) moves to the country estate of her in-laws in order to clear her head and to wait out some nasty rumors swirling about London high society. Whilst there, Lady Susan uses her charm, beauty and quick wits to hopefully secure a suitor not only for her young daughter Frederica (Morfydd Clark) but for herself as well.

Love & Friendship is no tactless spoof like the works of the Wayans brothers. Rather, Stillman recognizes the comedy inherent in both the story and in British melodrama itself. The writing is great, but it doesn't revel in its humor as often as it probably should. Not long after introducing the characters through a series of amusing vignettes, the film got so slow and stuffy to the point where it lulled me to sleep for about 20 minutes. I awoke and rejoined the narrative to find that stuffy and deliberate were kind of the point. That way, when Lady Susan does or says something brash, it comes as a bit of a welcome shock that you can't help but chuckle at. I still might have enjoyed it even more if Stillman had properly deconstructed the whole thing, like Adaptation. or Blazing Saddles.

Stealing the show is potential suitor Sir James Martin (Tom Bennett), an awkward simpleton who wrings the best laughs from an occasionally dry yarn.

Performances are tremendous across the board, especially Beckinsale as Lady Susan who fits the role like a glove.

If one were to compare this film to other popular Austen adaptations, it falls closer to Joe Wright's 2005 Pride & Prejudice than to the one with the zombies from earlier this year. Love & Friendship stands out for at least having a sense of humor about itself that works more often than not. If you like Downton Abbey or other films and television shows about European nobility, you'll enjoy Love & Friendship. If those aren't your cup of tea, fret not. You aren't missing much.

B-

"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" Review

From Seth Grahame-Smith, the author of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, comes the next bloody bastardization of history - Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

The film is an adaptation of Jane Austen's famous novel about romance and decorum between upper and lower classes during the time of the British Regency. The big wrinkle is that the country is overrun by the undead. In addition to being trained in the ways becoming of wifely young ladies, Elizabeth Bennett (Lily James) and her sisters are highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat. Their suitors - Mr. Darcy (Sam Riley), Mr. Bingley (Douglas Booth), and Mr. Wickham (Jack Huston) - are all military brats equally skilled at zombie-killin'.

Despite their incessant, well, "pride" and "prejudice" towards one another, I'd still want all these folks on my side during the apocalypse.

The only "lovable loser" who may not be of much service besides cracking wise is Parson Collins, played by Doctor Who's Matt Smith. Each character is relatively consistent with the manner in which Austen originally wrote them, although Smith's version of Collins is made out to be the jovial scene-stealer. Smith seems to have a bit of fun with the idea of a clergyman searching for a wife and plays the role with a bit of sexual ambiguity that the preview crowd found endearing.

Despite relatively strong characters, the story doesn't always support them. It often dabbles too far into either Austen territory or Romero territory, thus ultimately feeling imbalanced. The Austen stuff feels almost too much like a Lifetime Original Movie adaptation, but the zombie action is exciting and often just violent enough to be satisfying. Hardcore gore-hounds will probably be displeased, but again, there's a surprising amount of blood and entrails for a PG-13 film.

Unless you were a fan of Grahame-Smith's book, I wouldn't rush out to see Pride and Prejudice and Zombies in theaters. Worthwhile only as a Redbox rental for this year's Halloween sleepover.

C-