Agathe is celibate by choice. The 30-something hero of filmmaker Laura Piani鈥檚 feature debut played by the luminous Camille Rutherford, hasn鈥檛 so much been ruined by Austen as she has been made acutely aware of her own limitations in both romance and literature.
Neither she nor anyone else is good enough to make any big moves for. So, she sticks to the routine. She works at the legendary Parisian bookstore , and bikes home, where she lives with her sister and young nephew. Sometimes she goes out to dinner. For what it鈥檚 worth, Agathe also happens to epitomize French girl chic with her Breton stripes, red pout and effortlessly disheveled hair. There should be Instagram accounts devoted to her navy hooded parka.
Life isn鈥檛 bad, it鈥檚 just not moving forward. And whatever is going to get her out of this self-imposed rut is going to be something special 鈥� she鈥檚 read too many great books to accept anything less.
Standards are great and all, but really, of course, it鈥檚 Agathe who has to get out of her own way. And she does, one night, in a sake-induced daze in which she dreams up the first couple of chapters of a romance. Her best friend F茅lix (Pablo Pauly) gives her the push she needs and secretly submits the pages to a Jane Austen writers residency, where she鈥檚 accepted and invited to spend a few weeks.
Before she gets on the ferry (a hurdle in and of itself), F茅lix, a known serial dater and 鈥渂readcrumber,鈥� kisses her. It鈥檚 the kind of development, a platonic friendship turned complicated, that鈥檚 enough to properly distract an already reluctant writer with an impostor complex. When she arrives, there鈥檚 another handsome distraction awaiting her: Oliver (Charlie Anson), a British literature professor and Austen鈥檚 鈥済reat great great great nephew鈥� who thinks that the author is overrated. Agathe doesn鈥檛 know he also speaks French until after she鈥檚 complained about his arrogance to her sister within his earshot.
It鈥檚 a classic kind of setup, not exactly Mr. Darcy, but not not that either. Shared lodgings, even at a rather large, idyllic English estate, only ratchet up the will-they-won鈥檛-they tension as they see each other everywhere: walks in the woods, breakfast, after-dinner readings. And it鈥檚 not without its slightly more cliche hijinks, like Agathe stripping down to nothing and opening a door to what she believes is the bathroom. It鈥檚 not.
Piani has constructed a rare gem in 鈥淛ane Austen Wrecked My Life,鈥� which manages to be literary without being pretentious. Its title is cheekily hyperbolic but has some truth to it as well. are bound to disappoint but, in this environment, they can justify having a costumed ball. The event is a swoony, romantic affair where we get to see the love triangle play out in all its glorious awkwardness.
But while 鈥淛ane Austen Wrecked My Life鈥� certainly qualifies as a romantic comedy, the question of whom she ends up with is kind of beside the point. Don鈥檛 worry, choices are made, but the way it plays out is both unexpected and gratifying 鈥� a clear-eyed portrait of why Agathe's singledom is not the problem. There鈥檚 even a cameo involved.
Ultimately, this is a movie about a woman taking a bet on herself for perhaps the first time ever. Her actualization is not going to come through a boyfriend, a job or a makeover, but by sitting down and finally putting pen to paper. It may not be a strict adaptation, but it has Jane Austen鈥檚 soul.
鈥淛ane Austen Wrecked My Life,鈥� a Sony Pictures Classics release in theaters Friday, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for 鈥渟ome sexual content, nudity, language.鈥� Running time: 94 minutes. Three stars out of four.
Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
