Movie review – “Jane Austen Book Club” (2008) **1/2

Good natured “chatty women” movie which passes the time well enough, even though I’m not really the demographic. It has the benefit of an outstanding cast all in good form. Some of this is “yeah, yeah, seen it before” eg Jimmy Smits dumping poor old Amy Brennan, pushing forward the idea that if your partner reads Jane Austen he will really like it – but it throws in the occasional surprise, like Emily Blunt’s mean treatment of her jock husband is shown to be mean. The Maria Bello romance plot is a bit of a one-note samba. Solid acting across the board and the genuine rejoicing in literature and community make this a hard film to dislike.