Becoming Jane
By Danica K., San Diego, CA
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When I first saw what movie my mom had rented, I was disappointed. I did not want to watch another historical drama. She had picked “Becoming Jane.” I imagined it to be a cookie-cutter movie about how an impertinent young woman overcomes gender discrimination. Having thoroughly enjoyed “Miss Potter,” I was expecting “Becoming Jane” to be a cheap knockoff, at best.
The movie starts with a young Jane Austen (Anne Hathaway) being forced by her mother to attend a ball with a disappointing escort, whom her own father describes as a “booby.” Jane is determined not to marry for money, or without love, which frustrates her parents.
After the ball, Jane’s brother returns home from school with a friend from London, Tom Lefroy (James McAvoy). Tom is in law school and has quite a reputation. From the minute that Jane and Tom meet, they quarrel constantly. They argue about books, propriety, ignorance, and society. The audience cannot help but detect a frisson of attraction between the two beneath the supposed animosity.
As I watched, my heart caught in my throat numerous times. The movie is so well done that I felt what Jane was feeling. All of the characters are extremely likeable, so the audience finds themselves rooting for a happy ending.
From the moment “Becoming Jane” began, I was hooked. Hathaway makes a stunning, likeable, and believable Jane Austen. McAvoy portrays Lefroy as a conflicted young man steeped in feigned bravado, yet who is sensitive deep down.
I will admit that I cried throughout most of the film, and not just from sadness. I would recommend this film to people like me who aspire to be a writer and who enjoyed “Miss Potter.” I would also have to say that probably females would enjoy this film more than males.
“Becoming Jane” is currently my favorite movie, and it has done more than simply entertain me: It has rekindled my desire to be a writer like Jane Austen. This film will inspire you to never settle for less and to keep fighting for happiness and true love.
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