i heart james mcavoy

i've been on a james mcavoy and jane austen binge. my sister started my stint with jane austen with showing me 'persuasion' (2007 TV) (novel by jane austen screenplay written by simon burke). it was good, but not as good as the other movies adapted by ms. austen's novels. the best part of the movie was the hottie lead, rupert penry-jones. now i've somewhat accidentally saught out jane austen related flicks that i have not seen. i stumbled upon 'pride & prejudice' on comcast on demand, then 'becoming jane'. however, after having seen 'atonement' and 'penelope', i am crushing on james mcavoy something fierce (as christian, winner of project runway, might say). so mcavoy is the real reason i paid $4.99 for 'becoming jane'. stop reading if you have no interest in either james or jane. read on if you appreciate either or both. cheers, y'all :0p

atonement
starring james mcavoy, kiera knightley, saoirse ronan (briony tallis age 13), romola garai (briony age 18), vanessa redgrave (briony older)
novel by ian mcewan
screenplay by christopher hampton
directed by joe wright

atonement started out so intensely it had me on edge. saoirse played briony to the letter. i was terrified of the little girl. the older briony was sooooo weak in comparison. the love story between robbie turner (james (hmmm audible sigh - looks good in a tank top or a tux)) and cecelia tallis (kiera) was tense and raw and so new (library scene) before it was ripped apart by briony. after the start, the middle to end was good, but the intensity level dropped remarkably. in some ways it had to because of the story line, but i think the disparity of the performances changed it too. i have to mention that the cinematography is simply stunning with colors, angles and clarity to really pull you in. the ending was interesting and very well cast with vanessa redgrave. perhaps i am being a bit vague and jumbly with my thoughts, but i can't give away too much if you have not read the book or seen the movie. i am going to read the book now and see how it compares. i do recommend atonement even though i am criticizing the inconsistency of the performances and intensity levels.

pride and prejudice (2005)
starring kiera knightley (miss elizabeth bennett), matthew mcfayden (mr. darcy), donald sutherland (mr. bennett), brenda blethyn (mrs. bennett)
novel by jane austen
screenplay by deborah moggach

good performances turned in by kiera, matthew, donald and brenda. this film had all of the pieces of austen's writing: romance, troubles, miscommunication, pomp and circumstance, and finally resolution. however, the ending was a little too mushy, even for me. sense and sensibility is still my favorite so far of the jane austen flicks i've seen.

becoming jane (2007)
starring james mcavoy (tom lefroy), anne hathaway (jane austen), maggie smith (lady gresham), julie walters (mrs. austen), james cromwell (reverend austen)
directed by julian jarrold
written by kevin hood and the letters of jane austen

"A woman especially if she has the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal it as well as she can." -Jane Austen

this biopic (with artistic license) was wonderful - full of romance, comedy, irony, tragedy. of course i cried. and of course i fell in love with james mcavoy all over again. he has beauty, a softness and vulnerability of the eyes. he was perfectly cast as the irishman with a reputation to steal jane austen's heart. ok, i'll stop gushing about james now. anne hathaway was fantastic as jane austen. anne had showed the smarts and independence required of the role. of course, i'll never know for sure what the real ms. austen was like. if this depiction was anything close to how ms. austen really lived, you could see how she was inspired to write with tidbits of her own life thrown into her stories. i think i would have been miserable if i lived in the same era as ms. austen. a woman could not speak her mind nor make her own way. in some ways that has not changed too much, but in others, we have come a long way, baby. i highly recommend 'becoming jane' (0r 'sense & sensibility') when you need a good cry and a dose of romance that tugs at the heart strings.

yours truly,
chloe

p.s. i prefer all lower case, so i do not apologize for my choice of style. however, i do apologize for my blatant disregard for proper grammar sometimes (shout out to k.a.l.)