John Powers

Beyond the scads of adaptations, we've had movies titled Austenland and the Jane Austen Book Club, Anne Hathaway playing the young Jane, and Mr. Darcy's popping up everywhere, from Bridget Jones's Diary to the Hallmark Channel's Mr. Darcy Trilogy.

Beyond the scads of adaptations, we've had movies titled Austenland and the Jane Austen Book Club, Anne Hathaway playing the young Jane, and Mr. Darcy's popping up everywhere, from Bridget Jones's Diary to the Hallmark Channel's Mr. Darcy Trilogy.

As I speak, the Keira Knightley Pride and Prejudice is enjoying a 20th anniversary re-release, while over on Masterpiece, that queen of British television, Keely Hawes, stars as Jane's sister Cassandra in the series Miss Austin. Even France is getting into the act with the release of Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, an amiable new romance written and directed by Laura Piani.

As I speak, the Keira Knightley Pride and Prejudice is enjoying a 20th anniversary re-release, while over on Masterpiece, that queen of British television, Keely Hawes, stars as Jane's sister Cassandra in the series Miss Austin. Even France is getting into the act with the release of Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, an amiable new romance written and directed by Laura Piani.

As I speak, the Keira Knightley Pride and Prejudice is enjoying a 20th anniversary re-release, while over on Masterpiece, that queen of British television, Keely Hawes, stars as Jane's sister Cassandra in the series Miss Austin. Even France is getting into the act with the release of Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, an amiable new romance written and directed by Laura Piani.

Steep in the filmmaker's love of the writer, the movie, whose title is just a tease, embodies the pleasures and limitations of the Austen boom. The appealing Camille Rutherford stars as 30-something Agathe, a would-be romance writer who works at the renowned Paris bookstore Shakespeare & Company.

Steep in the filmmaker's love of the writer, the movie, whose title is just a tease, embodies the pleasures and limitations of the Austen boom. The appealing Camille Rutherford stars as 30-something Agathe, a would-be romance writer who works at the renowned Paris bookstore Shakespeare & Company.

Steep in the filmmaker's love of the writer, the movie, whose title is just a tease, embodies the pleasures and limitations of the Austen boom. The appealing Camille Rutherford stars as 30-something Agathe, a would-be romance writer who works at the renowned Paris bookstore Shakespeare & Company.

Profoundly blocked in her writing, emotions, and romantic life, Agathe spends her time hanging out with her co-worker Felix. That's the amusing Pablo Paoli, a likable womanizer who's her best friend. Agathe is headed nowhere until she gets invited to a writer's retreat at the Jane Austen residency in England.

Profoundly blocked in her writing, emotions, and romantic life, Agathe spends her time hanging out with her co-worker Felix. That's the amusing Pablo Paoli, a likable womanizer who's her best friend. Agathe is headed nowhere until she gets invited to a writer's retreat at the Jane Austen residency in England.

Profoundly blocked in her writing, emotions, and romantic life, Agathe spends her time hanging out with her co-worker Felix. That's the amusing Pablo Paoli, a likable womanizer who's her best friend. Agathe is headed nowhere until she gets invited to a writer's retreat at the Jane Austen residency in England.

There she meets, you guessed it, a grumpy, attractive man with whom she doesn't get along. His name is Oliver, and he's played by Charlie Anson, an actor who's like the housebrand version of Hugh Grant. We sense that they're destined for each other, even as we wonder whether she's better suited to Felix, with whom she shared an unexpectedly passionate kiss as she left for England.

There she meets, you guessed it, a grumpy, attractive man with whom she doesn't get along. His name is Oliver, and he's played by Charlie Anson, an actor who's like the housebrand version of Hugh Grant. We sense that they're destined for each other, even as we wonder whether she's better suited to Felix, with whom she shared an unexpectedly passionate kiss as she left for England.

There she meets, you guessed it, a grumpy, attractive man with whom she doesn't get along. His name is Oliver, and he's played by Charlie Anson, an actor who's like the housebrand version of Hugh Grant. We sense that they're destined for each other, even as we wonder whether she's better suited to Felix, with whom she shared an unexpectedly passionate kiss as she left for England.

Here, a god has just arrived in Britain, and Oliver is driving her to the retreat. Almost instantly, they're at loggerheads.

Here, a god has just arrived in Britain, and Oliver is driving her to the retreat. Almost instantly, they're at loggerheads.

Here, a god has just arrived in Britain, and Oliver is driving her to the retreat. Almost instantly, they're at loggerheads.

Poor Oliver doesn't seem to grasp that he's playing the role of Mr. Darcy. In fact, Austen is rightly admired and beloved for creating enduringly memorable heroines who were strong, smart, principled, often witty and willful. They have character. Even when they're wrongheaded, they're never trivial, especially about romance.

Poor Oliver doesn't seem to grasp that he's playing the role of Mr. Darcy. In fact, Austen is rightly admired and beloved for creating enduringly memorable heroines who were strong, smart, principled, often witty and willful. They have character. Even when they're wrongheaded, they're never trivial, especially about romance.

Poor Oliver doesn't seem to grasp that he's playing the role of Mr. Darcy. In fact, Austen is rightly admired and beloved for creating enduringly memorable heroines who were strong, smart, principled, often witty and willful. They have character. Even when they're wrongheaded, they're never trivial, especially about romance.