JANE AUSTEN WRECKED MY LIFE: 3 STARS. “classic ‘enemies to lovers’ situation.”
SYNOPSIS: In the bilingual romantic comedy “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life,” Agathe (Camille Rutherford), an awkward bookseller at Shakespeare & Co in Paris and wannabe writer, is signed up for an English writer’s retreat, hosted by distant relatives of Jane Austin. “I’m Jane Austin’s great, great, great, great nephew,” says Oliver (Charlie Anson), “I just think her work is a little overrated.”
CAST: Camille Rutherford, Pablo Pauly, Charlie Anson, Annabelle Lengronne, Liz Crowther. Directed by Laura Piani.
REVIEW: An old-fashioned literary rom com, “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life” is about Agathe (Camille Rutherford), a wannabe writer whose lessons in love come directly from the pages of the 19th century English novelist’s works.
So, no dating apps for Agathe.
When she starts, but can’t finish, a new story, her friend and sorta, kinda love interest Felix (Pablo Pauly) signs her up for the Jane Austen Residency in England. Reluctantly, she agrees to the trip, and, once there, attempts to find her literary voice while navigating a “Pride and Prejudice-y” love triangle between herself, the womanizing Felix and Jane Austin’s great, great, great, great nephew, the Hugh Grant-esque Oliver (Charlie Anson).
It’s a classic “enemies to lovers” situation—Oliver and Agathe don’t exactly hit it off at first sight—but one that plays out with the subtlety of a Regency rom com.
Paced at slower speed than most modern rom coms, “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life” thematically strides the line between Austin and modern-day romantic comedy.
References to “Pride and Prejudice,” “Persuasion” and other Austen novels are there for the taking, but so do finely crafted rom com banter, some screwball comedy and there’s a barfing scene that would make Austen flee from the theater.
At the heart of the story is Camille Rutherford. As Agathe she balances some wacky rom com traits—she’s afraid to ride in cars and knows, in her heart, that Felix isn’t a good match for her—with the real-life trauma that drive her into a fantasy land of Austen’s creation. It’s Rutherford’s performance, in a movie that leans into rom com tropes, that feels refreshingly human.
She ably supported by Anson, whose Hugh Grant impression is a scene stealer.
“Jane Austen Wrecked My Life” doesn’t plough new thematic ground, but charismatic performances earn it a recommendation.
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