Persuasion (2022)

Directed by Carrie Cracknell. Starring Dakota Johnson, Cosmo Jarvis, Henry Golding, Mia McKenna-Bruce, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Yolanda Kettle, Ben Bailey-Smith, Izuka Hoyle, Richard E. Grant, Nia Towle. [PG]

Latest attempt to breathe new life into 19th-century English lit with modern sensibilities (e.g., Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, Autumn de Wilde’s Emma, Armando Iannucci‘s The Personal History of David Copperfield) transforms Jane Austen’s final novel into a precious, self-satisfied rom-com. From the trilling trifles of Stuart Earl’s piano mischief to the disastrous decision to have heroine Anne Elliot (Johnson) address the camera like a Regency-era Fleabag, almost all of the “original” touches feel designed to vex, robbing the viewer of any chance to immerse his or herself into the lumpy retelling. Director Cracknell adds somber layers to the tart, cheeky business to ensure it’s taken seriously, but where were the rewrites to remove all the pandering and simplification to the most childish of costumer clichés? There’s so much across-the-board confusion, from the divergent characterizations and anachronism-speckled dialogue to the wobbly tonal acrobatics and mishmash fashions, its impact will most likely be to either make viewers scurry to the safety of Austen’s familiar text or cause them to swear off her stories evermore. Screen adaptation credited to Ronald Bass and Alice Victoria Winslow.

34/100