Written by: Laura Piani
Starring: Camille Rutherford, Pablo Pauly, Charlie Anson, Annabelle Lengronne, Liz Crowther
Rating: [2.5/5]
When not just evoking but also completely centering a film on a specific author known for writing incredibly famous novels, a film puts itself in a position to measure up. So many of Jane Austen’s stories have grown in popularity and have had films adapting them, but Jane Austen Wrecked My Life attempts something entirely different by describing how the works impact our protagonist’s life while also having her attend a writer’s retreat. It has the makings for something mildly enjoyable, except for the fact the film is so incredibly dry and a chore to get through.
Selected to attend a retreat hosted at the Jane Austen Residency, Agathe (Camille Rutherford) feels skeptical on whether she belongs with her lack of confidence in her own writing. While at this event, she interacts with others who received an invitation and a relative of Jane Austen, Oliver (Charlie Anson), who helps maintain the house. As she prepares to read her writing, her love life becomes complicated as she begins to strike up romantic feelings for Oliver.
With a title of Jane Austen Wrecked My Life you would think the final product would be something a bit more exciting but at every turn this feature proves it has no interest in having any sense of energy. Trying to discern where this issue arises only lands on one person, which is Camille Rutherford, the actor and her dreadfully uninteresting character Agathe. From the onset of this film and throughout this supposed romance she’s meant to have within this love triangle between Oliver and her friend Félix (Pablo Pauly), I found this character woefully boring.
In her efforts to find love and confidence in her writing, it appears writer/director Laura Piani forgot to inject Agathe with a personality that does more than just suck up the oxygen in every room that she enters. I cannot even make a joke about the negativity of the French in my description of her because that would feel too harsh. This riles me up because Jane Austen famously created characters with so much wit and personality, which makes it all the more harrowing to have a film invoking her name have such a disappointingly dull character at the center of it all. It becomes even more shocking that she’s meant to anchor this romance and be a person two men would both fawn after.
If we must talk about the romance in this film, Agathe begins to develop feelings for Oliver, while leaving things off awkwardly with her friend back in Paris, Félix, whom she kissed before leaving for this retreat. It only further gets complicated when Félix unexpectedly shows up to the retreat, which puts her right in the middle of the two men. The intention of this love triangle seeks to emulate that Agathe as somehow found herself in a similar circumstance to a character within a Jane Austen story, but the dryness of this lead character seeped into her dynamic with these two men that left me not caring at all.
The saving grace, ultimately, for this lies in the other characters surrounding her and the way they talk about writing. It gets right at the core of what makes this retreat so impactful for our lead character. These supporting players seek to essentially support Agathe’s path in self-realization. What she lacks in intrigue, the others try to compensate, especially when we learn more about the patrons of this event and the distinct issues they now combat. It made we wish we had a film center on these individuals much more, rather than continuing to follow this protagonist to go through with Agathe’s half-baked journey.
Disappointing in many ways, Jane Austen Wrecked My Life fails by committing the cardinal sin of providing us with a dull lead character. When trying to evoke Jane Austen, who has a rich history of creating women leads who captivate audience members, you cannot fail in this arena and this film unfortunately did. The only reason it does not have a lower score strictly comes from how much the writing truly feels on point in delivering some meaningful points about the art of writing and what comes with it, but unfortunately it all gets delivered through a protagonist that failed to measure up.
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