An awesome and ridiculous film that leaves you thrilled beyond the point of your natural endurance
2012
Theatre
The show has suddenly become quite wonderful, and the galvanising factor is the terrific stage debut of Melanie C
Blood Brothers
Music
The British pop music industry may be eating itself but if Muse are the pick of what it can offer the world in 2010 then British music is in rude health indeed
Muse
I was smitten by both Gilberts enormous luxuriant moustache and the intelligence and nuance of this highly entertaining play
I totally recommend Babbo to anyone who is looking for really good and traditional Italian food
Always been a fan but never seen them live. I was ecstatic to be part of this epic event. WOW!
London,
Evening Standard rating
Reader rating
Dir: Robin Swicord.
Cast: Kathy Baker, Maria Bello, Emily Blunt, Maggie Grace, Hugh Dancy, Marc Blucas
Description: Sylvia is devastated when her high school beau, public affairs lawyer Daniel, admits to an extra-marital affair. Her twenty-something lesbian daughter Allegra moves back home for support. Meanwhile, Sylvia's good friend Jocelyn also needs a shoulder to cry on when her faithful companion Pridey, a champion Rhodesian Ridgeback, dies on her ranch in the country. Her grief gives free spirited bohemian Bernadette the perfect excuse to convene an informal book club: "All Jane Austen, all the time. It's the perfect antidote... to life!"
Country: US. 2007. 105mins
Hooked on books: Despite criticism from mainly male reviewers, The Jane Austen Book Club engagingly discusses complex ideas on romance, class and politics
What is it about the chick flick that brings out the brute in male critics? The Jane Austen Book Club has certainly had a good kicking. The Telegraph's Tim Robey called it cinematic "hemlock"; The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw "icky, brain-dead, ya-ya-sisterhood sludge". Hey, boys, nobody died. I don't mind your lads' films where things get blown up - why can't you allow us our equivalent guilty pleasure?
The Jane Austen Book Club is a classic woman's picture - an intricate meshing of romance and wry social observation, in which the protagonists get to wear some great outfits. In the film (an adaptation of Karen Joy Fowler's 2004 bestseller), a group of modern-day Californians get together to read and discuss Austen's novels - in the process discovering important truths about their own lives.
Jane-ites will lap up all the intertextual references (Was Charlotte Lucas gay? Is Emma Woodhouse a bitch?) but you can also enjoy it without having read any of the novels. We get a proper ensemble cast of women of different ages, and people discuss complex ideas - economics, politics, romance, class - at length.
Romantic comedies are important - the best ones break down taboos. The premise is always the same: two people are kept apart by a major obstacle (money, race, sexuality) but by the end you're longing for them to get together. In The Jane Austen Book Club, the slow-burn romance between Maria Bello's older woman and Hugh Dancy's computer nerd is particularly touching. Yes of course it's a middle-aged fantasy. That's why they're called genre films.
There are rumours that Hollywood may be calling time on the chick flick. The new money-makers are "dick flicks" such as Knocked Up and Superbad - where the female characters are at best sketchy and often misogynist. What's so radical about a group of guys laughing about the funny things women's bodies do?
The Jane Austen Book Club isn't perfect. Yes, it is formulaic and sentimental. But you get to see some fabulous acting by older women (why isn't Kathy Baker a major star?). Nothing gets blown up. It's a great way to spend Saturday afternoon. Go and see it now - it may be your last chance.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
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