Jane Austen Wrecked My Life
Since surviving a car accident six years prior which took the lives of her parents, long time singleton Agathe (Camille Rutherford, "Anatomy of a Fall") has lived with her sister and young nephew. Recently confused by a growing flirtation with her best friend Felix (Pablo Pauly, "The French Dispatch"), Agathe is thrown even more off balance when he submits the first few chapters of a novel she's been writing and wins her a spot with the Jane Austen Writers' Residency in England. Agathe's life becomes no easier as she suffers writer's block while finding herself in an unexpected love triangle in "Jane Austen Wrecked My Life."
Laura's Review: B
Inspired by her own years working at the famous Shakespeare & Co. bookshop in Paris, where her characters Agathe and Felix both work, writer/director Laura Piani makes her feature debut with a romantic comedy centered by an awkward oddball. Agathe is a klutz who hasn't had sex in two years and is nervous about her budding feelings for Felix, whom she accuses of 'breadcrumbing' the many women in his life, keeping them interested while never committing. She is a Jane Austen fanatic, who sees Felix as Mansfield Park's Henry Crawford, a liar and seducer and herself as Persuasion's borderline old main, Anne Elliot.
Eating alone in a Chinese restaurant with luxuriously rich decor, Agathe looks into the bottom of her sake cup and spies a naked Asian man with flowing hair painted there, a man she soon fantasizes embracing and it is this experience which sparks her new novel, one which Felix sees as intriguingly promising. But Agathe, clearly pleased by Felix's action, is nonetheless terrified at the prospect of traveling to England, suffering a bad case of imposter syndrome when thinking of herself as a writer. Felix assures her this is not the case, arranges to cover for her at work and even drives her to catch the ferry.
At the other end is a handsome man holding a sign with her name in front of an MGB sportscar. He is Oliver (Charlie Anson, "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies"), the great, great, great, great nephew of Jane Austen herself and son of Beth (Liz Crowther) and Todd (Alan Fairbairn), now attending to pickup service as his father can no longer drive. The two immediately clash when Oliver, a literary professor, declares Austen overrated and will hear himself described as unsufferably arrogant in French when Agathe takes a phone call when his car breaks down in the forest, twenty-five miles from the nearest village.
The old manor house they finally arrive at in a farmer's wagon the next morning lifts Agathe's spirits, especially given Beth's warm welcome and Todd's appreciation of her piano playing, but she is clearly still uncomfortable, and it doesn't help matters than when she strips for a shower and marches into her bathroom, she discovers she's instead burst into Oliver's room, the man sitting reading calmly observing her naked form. That evening she clashes with Olympia (Lola Peploe) who finds her literary views too simplistic (Todd mischievously pours water down the woman's back) and while she sees her and Cheryl (Annabelle Lengronne) writing in the house and about the grounds, she is entirely blocked, instead wondering why she hasn't heard from Felix. Then the evening of the Residency's ball, in which attendees outfit themselves in Austen period dress, arrives and so does Felix, but while their dance is full of fun and laughter, it is her solemnly serious turn on the floor with Oliver that burns with passion.
Piani's film exudes romantic atmosphere with its lush, verdant settings celebrated by Pierre Mazoyer's widescreen photography, Peter Von Poehl's piano score morphing into oboe, flute and clarinet in Jane Austen's England. Rutherford imbues Agathe with an indpendence shaken by self doubt and nerves which erupt in cases of the dropsies and episodes of vomiting, yet she charms when her character feels unobserved. Pauly is perfection as the roguish best friend while Anson, who resembles David Tennant, disarms with his intensity. Crowther exudes warmth while Fairbairn supplies sweetness and English eccentricity in the form of undiagnosed dementia. Lengronne is that intelligent travel friend. Watch for a last act surprise appearance by documentarian Frederick Wiseman.
Piani's screenplay could have benefited from a few more parallels to Austen, but while the author doesn't appear to have wrecked anything, she has supplied a setting for romantic realizations. "Jane Austen Wrecked My Life" is the romantic comedy as coming of age story for a woman who's put her life on ice until she trusts herself enough to melt.
Robin's Review: C+
Agathe (Camille Rutherford) manages the Shakespeare & Co. bookshop in Paris and dreams to be an “author.” Through her friends’ efforts, she receives an invitation to attend the Jane Austen Residency in England and read from her writings, except she has none because of writer’s block, in “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life.”
First and foremost, this is a French romantic comedy that we have seen before, except first-time feature writer-director Laura Piani adds a Brit twist. When Agathe arrives in England, she is greeted by Oliver (Charlie Anson), the great-great-great-nephew of Ms. Austen herself, in a vintage MGB sports car. It breaks down on the way and they are forced to spend the night sleeping in the tiny, cramped car.
Once she is finally ensconced at the residency, she is introduced to all the other invitees who set off to do their diligent writing. Not so, Agathe, as she struggle to put word to paper. She is also becoming attracted to Oliver. Then, the monkey wrench is thrown into the works with the arrival of Felix (Pablo Pauly), her partner from the bookstore. He was, before, a friend with benefits, but now, not so much.
There is decent attraction between Agathe and Oliver as the story unfolds and the expected budding romance is there. When Felix arrives on the scene, it feels forced and one of the story holes that did not work for me. It is a romantic triangle that should have been a straight line.
As I watched “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life,” I could not shake the impression that, no, it was not Jane Austen doing the wrecking. It is Agathe doing the dirty work. It should have been called “Jane Austen Did Not Wreck My Life, I Did!”
Sony Pictures Classics releases "Jane Austen Wrecked My Life" in select theaters on 5/16/23, expanding on 5/23/25.
