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Jul 15, 2022 · Austen’s final novel is called “Persuasion” because it’s about how the snobs surrounding Anne persuaded her to reject Wentworth when he had no rank or fortune. Now he’s back, and he’s a captain, but he remains a dreadful bore.
- Persuasion
She had been forced into prudence in her youth, she learned...
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It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in...
- Persuasion
Watch Persuasion with a subscription on Netflix. Despite Dakota Johnson's best efforts, the chaotically anachronistic Persuasion fails to convince as a worthwhile Austen adaptation. Read...
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- Carrie Cracknell
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- Dakota Johnson
Jul 14, 2022 · Dakota Johnson smirks her way through a Netflix adaptation of the rekindled romance in Jane Austen’s last novel, our critic writes.
- Teo Bugbee
- Carrie Cracknell
Jul 8, 2022 · Dakota Johnson stars with Cosmo Jarvis, Henry Golding and Richard E. Grant in Netflix's rom-com reworking of Jane Austen’s final novel.
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- Verdict
By Tara Bennett
Updated: Jul 15, 2022 11:05 pm
Posted: Jul 15, 2022 11:01 pm
Persuasion premieres July 15 exclusively on Netflix.
When it comes to adapting a classic novel to film, there’s a pretty easy formula to abide by in terms of retaining value: it should strive to at least understand, and hopefully, appreciate the soul of what makes it worth adapting in the first place. In the case of Netflix’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic 1817 work Persuasion, the movie instead reeks of some executive who determined women still love that “Austen chick” and that Fleabag woman, so why not mush them together with “hot actors” in fancy clothes? Directed by Carrie Cracknell and adapted by screenwriters Ronald Bass and Alice Victoria Winslow, their version of Persuasion has the gorgeous Dakota Johnson transforming the inherently mousy character of Anne Elliot into a boozy, weepy, and unabashedly charming spinster who constantly shares her inner thoughts straight to the camera as she still pines for the man who got away. Oh, that Jane Austen where with us today, I would pay exorbitant sums of money to instead read her notes on this screenplay because the takedown would be delicious.
If you’ve never read Austen’s Persuasion, the slow burn book is about regret and lost love, seen through the eyes of people pleaser Anne Elliot. Eight years prior, she’s persuaded to give up the man she loves, Captain Frederick Wentworth, because her snobby mentor and family don’t think he’s rich enough. Both are heartbroken, so he goes to sea to nurse his ego while she is stuck in the role of family caretaker, reduced to playing agony aunt to her terrible father and sisters. The film mostly keeps that narrative spine of the book intact, opening eight years post breakup when the still unmarried Anne and Wentworth meet once again.
The film forges its own path in portraying Anne as the bright star of her family and extended family. She’s beautiful, self aware, snarky, and quite frankly, a catch among women, so how she hasn't been scooped up by any other suitor is a huge logical flaw from the get-go. And when Wentworth (Cosmo Jarvis) sweeps back into her orbit, he looks at her like he’s beyond besotted. There’s nary a hint of anger in Jarvis’ performance, just simpering heart eyes and a lot of literal sighs directed right at her. All that which means, there’s nowhere for these characters to go, or grow, or attempt to give us a hint of delicious romantic tension. Even Anne’s mentor, Lady Russell (Nikki Amuka-Bird), who dissuaded her from the Wentworth engagement, early on in this adaptation apologizes for the bad advice which effectively snuffs out another obstacle.
What’s left? Anne breaking the fourth wall as she roasts her narcissist father (Richard E. Grant) and younger married sister, Mary (Mia McKenna-Bruce), for their selfish behavior., as well as a lot of sad-girl crying while cringingly moping over trinkets from her failed relationship. And then there’s a lot of anachronistic dialogue littered throughout the screenplay, such as Anne saying, “He’s a 10. I never trust a 10” about her cousin, Mr. William Elliot (Henry Golding), or Wentworth sharing that when he’s on the high seas in difficult situations, he often thinks, “What would Anne do?” Curious, I had no idea there were memes in 19th century England.
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Persuasion is a disappointingly limp adaptation of one of Jane Austen’s great romances. While Dakota Johnson does her best to give director Carrie Cracknell a contemporized, charming version of Austen’s heroine Anne Elliot, the screenplay’s foundational reframing of the character strips away everything that makes the book’s version interesting and ...
Jul 15, 2022 · Jul 15, 2022 1:20pm PT. ‘Persuasion’ Review: Dakota Johnson Makes an Odd Fit for a ‘Fleabag’-Style Jane Austen Adaptation. Stage director Carrie Cracknell has a clear (if clearly derivative)...
Jul 8, 2022 · Dakota Johnson tackles Jane Austen in Persuasion movie adaptation. The period details remain, but the fourth wall bends and breaks in Netflix's too-cute Jane Austen update, 'Persuasion.'
