Movie Review - Persuasion

Director: Carrie Cracknell
Genre: Romance/ Drama
Runtime: 107 minutes
Year: 2022
Starring: Dakota Johnson, Cosmo Jarvis, Henry Golding, Richard E. Grant
 
Description: Eight years after Anne Elliot (Dakota Johnson) was persuaded not to marry a dashing man of humble origins, they meet again. Will she seize her second chance at true love?

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2022 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 32: A COSTUME DRAMA

Review: Once again, it’s time for a Jane Austen film adaptation. This time it’s “Persuasion”. Like another recent Austen adaptation, “Emma”, this new incarnation has added a dash of extra humor and sarcasm.

Anne Elliot is still in pain after eight years, not being able to marry her lover because he wasn’t rich enough for her family. The he shows up again, but of course the past is still between them. Anne interferes with herself in conveying these entanglements to the audience, breaking the fourth wall. Not only dies she, for example, tell the audience who the family members are while looking into the camera, but she frequently casts telling glances at the viewers.

The downside of such a distinct is that, alongside previous films and series that employ this kind of device, it quickly becomes apparent that this trick only works if it is applied properly. Now it is merely a tiresome distraction. The dialogues that Anne delivers to catch up with the viewer mostly feel as if the information of the novel is most easily conveyed in this way. The winks towards the camera are just a gimmick, no deeper meaning is attached to them.

“Persuasion” unsuccessfully hitchhikes on the success of other costume dramas. The costumes are fine, but don’t stand out. The dialogues are a somewhat awkward mixture of old-fashioned language and new-fangled expressions. As a result, “Persuasion” seems to be stumbling on two thoughts. This is supported by a pretty standard piano soundtrack and closes with a song by Birdy that manages to evoke more emotion than the rest of the film.

A major problem is the chemistry between Anne and her returned lover Fredrick. Dakota Johnson is a bit out of touch with the movie world due to the choice to have her constantly break the fourth wall, making it hard to sympathize with her. Cosmo Jarvis does not convince with his acting, and looks merely sad, tormented and wooden for most of the film. Henry Golding as Anne’s cousin, stands out much more beside him with his playful, striking personality. But he’s only a side character, with not nearly enough screentime.

Despite attempts to shake things up a bit, “Persuasion” fails to make the viewer sympathize with Anne’s ups and downs. Comedy and the more serious emotional charge do not mix here. So this one can go on the pile of book to movie adaptations we didn’t need. There are better adaptations of this book.

Rating: 2,5/ 5

Top 5 Thursday: Jane Austen Novels

I’m an avid reader and I love all sorts of books. My favorite classics are definitely the Jane Austen books. So sad she only wrote six of them. Here is my top 5.

5. Emma
This book, and “Northanger Abbey” which didn’t make it to my top 5, is the only one that I didn’t rate with 5 stars. I did love “Emma”, but I didn’t connect with the characters as much as I did in the other books.

4. Sense and Sensibility
The most beloved Austen novel, together with “Pride and Prejudice”, is only on my number 4 spot. My favorite aspect of this story is the two completely different Dashwood sisters. Great character development.

3. Persuasion
This was Austen’s final completed novel. “Persuasion” is beautifully written and I love that this books is about second chances.

2. Mansfield Park
It’s Austen’s most controversial novel, but like all the other books she wrote this was again a true delight. Fanny is undoubtedly one of Austen's less assertive characters, although she does mature into a woman who knows what she wants and will accept no less. I loved Fanny and her honesty.

1. Pride and Prejudice
This was easy to pick, because “Pride and Prejudice” is my all-time favorite novel. I can read it over and over again and never get bored. This is such a good book, with one of the best female leads ever. This is just a masterpiece of wit and style.

They almost made the top 5: Northanger Abbey

50 Books Challenge 2011 - # 54: Persuasion by Jane Austen

Title: Persuasion
Author: Jane Austen
Story: Twenty-seven-year old Anne Elliot is Austen's most adult heroine. Eight years before the story proper begins, she is happily betrothed to a naval officer, Frederick Wentworth, but she precipitously breaks off the engagement when persuaded by her friend Lady Russell that such a match is unworthy. The breakup produces in Anne a deep and long-lasting regret. When later Wentworth returns from sea a rich and successful captain, he finds Anne's family on the brink of financial ruin and his own sister a tenant in Kellynch Hall, the Elliot estate. All the tension of the novel revolves around one question: Will Anne and Wentworth be reunited in their love?
Start: october 27th 2011
End: october 31st 2011
Comment: I don't like to admit it, but I can be a hopeless romantic if I'm in the right mood. Jane Austen books are perfect for those moments. In Jane Austen's time, young women were taught that it was practically their duty to 'marry well'. But if a woman turned down a suitor for being poor, she ran the risk of losing the man she loved. That's the problem for Anne Elliott, the heroine of Jane Austen's final novel. Many say that Anne was based on Austen herself. The message that "Persuasion" carries to follow your instincts and not let distractions and others persuade you otherwise. A message I believe in but it's really hard to execute. "Persuasion" isn't my favorite Austen novel, but I love it so much like all her books. She can carry you away with her stories.
Rating: 5/ 5