Synopsis
Includes:
Miss Austen Regrets (2007)
Persuasion (2007)
Sense and Sensibility (2008)
Miss Austen Regrets
An outwardly confident but unmarried woman on the verge of her fortieth birthday reflects on her past suitors and the choices she once made while attempting to help her marriage minded niece choose between a number of potential suitors in this tale inspired by the life and letters of Jane Austen. Jane Austen (Olivia Williams) is about to turn forty, but she still hasn't found her ideal man. When Jane is approached by her niece Fanny (Imogen Poots) and asked to help select the perfect husband for the young girl, the ageing spinster begins to wonder why it is that she never found a man to share her own life with. Perhaps if Jane had accepted the proposal of a wealthy landowner she could have saved her family from financial ruin, and what of the handsome young physician who once warmed to Jane after tending to her ailing family members? In this speculative tale, director Jeremy Lovering and screenwriter Gwyneth Hughes ponder the potential reasons why the real Jane Austen never found her own Mr. Darcy. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Persuasion
Sally Hawkins and Rupert Penry-Jones star in this adaptation of the Jane Austin classic about a lovelorn woman who receives a second chance for true happiness. Anne Elliot was just nineteen when she fell hopelessly in love with dashing naval officer Frederick Wentworth, so when her family attempted to convince her that she was making a terrible mistake the smitten young woman hastily broke off her engagement. That decision has haunted her ever since, and despite the fact that nearly a decade has passed not a day goes by that Anne doesn't long for Frederick's embrace. Now, eight years later, Frederick has returned a highly decorated, and extremely wealthy military man. As every eligible woman in Anne's district swoons over the handsome and successful naval officer, the crestfallen young woman still holds out hope that Frederick will somehow find it in his heart to look beyond her youthful indecision, and give her a second shot at true love. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Sense and Sensibility
Hattie Morahan, Charity Wakefield, and Dominic Cooper star in screenwriter Andrew Davies' adaptation of the classic Jane Austen tale of love and class conflict. Marianne Dashwood (Wakefield) has fallen deeply in love with John Willoughby (Cooper), yet despite their feelings for one another the wealthy Willoughby is considered an improper suitor for the financially destitute girl. Marianne's sister Elinor (Morahan)'s pleads with her sibling to end the romance or risk becoming the subject of gossip in their chatty social circle, all the while struggling to suppress her own romantic disappointment. So how does one find happiness in a society where the rules are set according to status and money? Perhaps a winning mix of sense and sensibility is the key to striking a harmonious balance, and living a life without regrets.
~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
