Jane Austen Wrecked My Life – Film Review
(Jane Austen a gâché ma vie)

Director – Laura Piani
Writer – Laura Piani
Stars – Camille Rutherford, Pablo Pauly, Charlie Anson

Agathe Robinson (Camille Rutherford) is a hopeless romantic. She’s a dreamer who works in a book shop and adores Jane Austen. She dabbles in writing, and she wins a two-week writing retreat at the Jane Austen Residency after her friend Felix (Pablo Pauly) enters the first two chapters of a book she is working on. She’s been friends with co-worker Felix for many years, but things might be changing between them after a long, lingering kiss. She travels to England, where she meets Jane Austen’s great-great-great-nephew Oliver. Charlie Anson channels Hugh Grant as a dashing academic, recently out of a relationship. If you’re smelling rom-com possibilities, you’re on the right track.

The film is mainly in French, but does change to English at times, as the main character is immersed in English society. The drift from one language to another is an interesting quirk rarely seen on screen.

This is a new film by writer/ director Laura Piani. It is her feature debut after working on a series of short films and works for TV. There are some lovely touches and well-written, punchy dialogue.  Another positive is Camille Rutherford’s performance, as she is excellent in the main part, as this dreamy young woman. The downside is the predictability of the script, which heads in an all-too-obvious direction. It’s worth seeing for Rutherford’s amigouos performance, but you know which direction the story is going in the first moment Oliver appears on screen.