Movie Review: Persuasion 2022



After waiting impatiently for its release, and then reading a few reviews of it, I watched the new Jane Austen's Persuasion adaption on Netflix the other night. As a long-time fan of all of Austen's works (and the movie adaptions), I feel called alone to leave a few of my thoughts regarding it here.

I know that purists of Austen's works feel that it was an utter desecration of her writings. I don't feel exactly the same.

To be sure, it was strange hearing of "playlists" and "exes" (not to mention "Good luck!") in a period film. But the conversations were witty, the movie not too long, and the filming and music were good.

The downside? There was literally no chemistry between Johnson (who played Anne) and Jarvis (who played Wentworth) and I felt that all the scenes with them were painful.

The character of Anne was terrible and took away from the entire storyline of the book. Sensible, quiet Anne became a clumsy, snarky, and dare I say ANNOYING lush. Drinking wine and spilling gravy on her head. Making fun of all around her, and assuming she's better than everyone. Not at all the Anne Elliot that makes the book so charming.

The William Elliot storyline was also clumsily written and would be massively confusing to anyone that hadn't read the book. Like, WHAT HAPPENED THERE?

And don't get me started on the costumes. They fell so short of anything period-correct and were mediocre at best.

If you are looking to spend a little under 2 hours watching a Netflix film I would say that you could do worse.

If you are looking for a film adaptation that captures Jane Austen's incredible, and moving book, Persuasion, then I recommend watching the version with Rupert Penry-Jones and Sally Hawkins.

Comments

  1. I agree! There were things I liked about it, but wow Anne. Drank too much, blurted odd things out at inappropriate times. This is NOT Anne Elliot. I did like Mary, she was much more sympathetic character than she usually is.

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  2. Yes, I completely agree with you!! I was disappointed after watching it the first time. Then I decided to watch it again that evening as just a "movie", and I enjoyed it more. It should not have been titled as "Persuasion".

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