Review of Austenland, directed by Jerusha Hess

If you’re a more dedicated reader of this blog, you’re probably going to notice there’s a topic I dwell on a lot when it comes to movies. When you first watch a certain kind of movie sometimes, you never really forget that first time you saw the film.

That said, I remember the first time I watched Austenland clearly. It was in an AP 12th grade English class, and we had one of the cool teachers who, instead of making us watch the crappy old time adaptations of popular novels, showed us things like Kimmy Schmidt and Austenland.

We watched this movie despite having not read Jane Austen. I guess it fit the English class vibes at the time? Anyways, I was super into buying movies on iTunes back in high school, and I ended up purchasing this movie back then.

I’d been looking at the movies I purchased all these years later via iTunes, and then realized I had this strange kind of nostalgia for the film. So I decided to revisit it after six something years, and having become a lot more cynical about life and romance.

Let’s get into the review!

An obsessed Jane Austen fan from America decides to go to a themed Austen era resort in England.

Our main character in this movie is of course named Jane, which makes some sense as to why she’s so obsessed with Jane Austen in the long run. She watched the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice over and over again, and her friends and family are kind of concerned due to a lack of a romantic life.

In order to try and change something, Jane ends up booking a trip to Austenland in England, which is basically role playing people in the Regency era. It doesn’t sound charming to most people, but because it’s right up Jane’s alley, she’s so excited for what’s to come.

One of the big aspects of this resort, though, is a guaranteed romance with one of the actors. Jane ends up arriving and realizing she bought the cheapest package, while the other guest, Elizabeth Charming, has the most expensive platinum package. Jane finds herself being treated poorly by the manager due to a lack of her money as a result.

Jane is paired with Mr. Henry Nobley, the nephew of the manager. Elizabeth is paired up with Colonel Andrews, who can be quite obnoxious if we’re putting it lightly. However, Henry couldn’t care less about Jane, making her gravitate towards the driver who picked her up at the airport.

Another guest, Amelia, keeps trying to flirt with Henry though, and Henry and Jane have an argument. The driver keeps going after Jane, and when she goes out one day, Henry ends up saving her from having to walk through the rain all the way back into the house.

When she comes back, though, the driver invites Jane to come see the birth of a foal. Mesmerized by what she just witnessed, Jane ends up kissing him, and they start spending more time together. Another actor starts making a move on Jane, and the driver ends up being a twat about it and says she’s going around with the actors.

Jane is asked to play piano for the group, and plays a song that’s definitely not Regency era. She leaves the room mildly miffed about what’s happening, looking for her driver boy, but then Henry stops her and gives her a warning. Along the way of finding him, the manager’s husband tries to assault her.

Angry and wanting to find love, Jane vows to take over the narrative of her story. She takes some of Amelia’s clothes, with the help of Elizabeth, and then reintroduces herself with a more confident personality. But when the manager finds her cellphone, she’s about to kick Jane out. Amelia lies to save her, then blackmails Jane into getting her together with another one of the actors.

When rehearing a fake play, Jane and Henry pair up. The play does not end well, but Henry and Jane get cozy. He invites her to the final ball as a dance partner, and he confesses there. However, Jane thinks it’s fake and leaves, heading off with the driver.

The next day, though, Amelia is revealed as American and had covered for her at Henry’s request. The manager also reveals that the driver was her scripted partner, making Jane even more angry. She storms off to the airport, the driver is sent to appease her, but Henry shows up.

Jane thanks Henry for being perfect, but still leaves him behind. When she gets back to the US, she gets rid of her Mr. Darcy merchandise from the 1995 movie, but then Henry shows up and explains he was a history professor and he does love her. They get together, and a mid-credits scene shows Elizabeth bought Austenland.

Overall Thoughts

Now, I really hate romantic comedies, but Austenland hits all the right spots for me. Maybe because I’m a writer or love books, although I’ll shamefully admit that I haven’t read much of Jane Austen’s work.

That said, this is the kind of movie I would honestly revisit as well. The script is corny, but the plot twists actually work really well, and I think a lot of women can relate to Jane.

She’s someone who never really broke out of her fangirl phase, and while this movie could lowkey be interpreted as a fanfiction in some ways, she got the happy ending that so many dream for int he end.

Go give it a chance if you haven’t already seen the movie.

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