Love and Friendship movie – review

I’ll need a few days to process this movie… It was absolutely fantastic, superb, everything you want from a Jane Austen adaptation!
I’ve read the novella about 4-5 years ago, but haven’t remembered who funny it is. The screenplay is trully scrumptious. Whit Stillman (the writer and director) understands Austen!
I cannot find words for Tom Bennett who played Sir James Martin. His portrayal of Sir James was hilarious. He definitely had the best lines, but that’s not enough to deliver such a brilliant performance…he clearly enjoyed playing the part and I think he is my new Colin Firth.
Kate Beckinsale’s Lady Susan is fabulous. As there is no other adaptation out there, she could have done anything what she wanted which could have gone either way but she captured the essence of the character. Even if you don’t like her [Lady Susan] in the beginning, you’ll like her by the end. You’ll see how very clever she is.
The other two actresses who were very good in my opinion are Emma Greenwell who played Mrs. Catherine Vernon (DeCourcy) and Morfydd Clark who played Frederica Vernon (Lady Susan’s daughter) -by the way she also played Georgiana in Pride and Prejudice + zombies.
The first 30-40 minutes are a bit confusing characterwise. There are lots of them in one go and the relationship between them and Lady Susan could be complicated at first sight, but it will be clear later. In the cinema where I’ve been, there was a leaflet available which explaines the relationship between the characters. Worth to check it before the movie.

The locations are beautiful, the music is lovely. The only thing is: I was a bit surprised to see georgian costumes and not regency. It looked like the men wore regency, the women wore georgian style, but I’m not an expert, so I might be in error.
I hope the script will be available for purchase later on.

Ohh, and the peas…You’ll see. Sir James has a little monologue about the peas, remindes me to Mr Collins’s excellent boiled potatoes… and I cannot help but compare the two characters, however it should be another post.

I think every Jane Austen fan will be very happy this adaptation. It’s very merry, witty, funny and it became my favourite one.