Becoming Jane: in defense of the underdog

C'mon Jane, pick the underdog instead! (Picture source: www.telegraph.co.uk)

Maybe there’s more of the benevolent Jane Bennet in me than I would like to admit (for I, like many, have always looked up to her more prominent sister) but last night, while watching the movie Becoming Jane, I could not help caring more for the feelings of dejected suitor Mr. Wisley (Laurence Fox) than for the unfolding Austen/Lefroy drama.

This is in no small part due to Laurence Fox’s subtle performance: combining the social ineptitude of Mr. Darcy with hints of Colonel Brandon’s romantic melancholy and constancy, Fox, in his few onscreen minutes, convinced me there was more to his character (an entirely fictional creation, I am led to understand) than the dullness Austen observes. His Wisley comes across as a shy but affectionate man trying to come out of his shell (and as a character screaming to be more developed on paper!). What a shame that the screen Jane Austen fails to pay due regard to him until it’s too late. First Impressions indeed.

As Fox's Wisley seems to borrow so much from underrated hero Brandon, it is only fitting his performance should slip by almost unnoticed. At least the Telegraph condescended to mention him as “endearingly forlorn”, but another reviewer completely missed the mark by comparing Wisley to Pride and Prejudice’s Mr. Collins - if anything, the movie implies Collins would have been inspired by a 3rd suitor (that temptress Austen!), John Warren.

And the rest of the movie? I found it a charming and well acted production, but not a dazzler. For this I blame the screenplay: Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy seem up to the task, their acting is convincing, the supporting cast is robust, all the elements of a great story are there, and yet.

I agree with critic Cosmo Landesman’s assessment: “you do not feel sadness or anger that Jane and Lefroy are denied a chance of happiness”. I certainly did not. Rather, I came out of the theatre fancying Jane Austen would have modeled her legendary Darcys and Brandons out of an acquaintance with someone like Mr. Wisley, leaving dashing Tom Lefroy (or his onscreen version at least) to inspire certain traits in the Wickhams and Willoughbys of her universe.

Laurence Fox period piece trivia:

Not the first time he acts in a movie also starring Maggie Smith (see Gosford Park)
Currently dating Billie Piper (who is soon appearing as Fanny Price in ITV's Mansfield Park)- an Austen household indeed!
Cousin to actress Emilia Fox (Georgiana Darcy in the 1995 P&P)