Austenland 2013

Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times: Opts for crass over clever and slapstick over satire. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: A wan comedy aimed squarely at whoever it is who buys all those "Austen-inspired" books cluttering up the publishing world. Read more

A.A. Dowd, AV Club: It's a truly half-assed satire, one whose senseless sensibility seems less informed by the best of English literature than the worst of Saturday Night Live. Read more

Barbara VanDenburgh, Arizona Republic: The film does little delving into what could make a modern woman so hung up on the romantic conventions of yesteryear, even less with complications of class conflict. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Hess has made a classic rookie mistake: Any spoof has to be at least as smart as the thing it's spoofing, and this one's twice as dumb. Read more

Adam Graham, Detroit News: It's tentative in its intentions and afraid to push all the way with its premise. It is not sharp enough as a comedy, and when it tries to shift gears and become a romance, it is unconvincing in its machinations. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Russell plays Jane's scatterbrained romanticism with such underhanded charm that she goes a long way toward making the laughs seem pertly knowing, even when they come at Jane's expense. Read more

Amanda Mae Meyncke, Film.com: "Austenland" is as light and airy as a cream puff, and as entirely unfulfilling. Read more

John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: Clever rom-com finds new ways to exploit the Mr. Darcy archetype Read more

Michael Phillips, Los Angeles Times: Feels tentative - all too attuned to the blandly easygoing protagonist. Read more

Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: There are a few flashes of wit in the romantic comedy Austenland, but for the most part, the humor lands not with Dear Jane's grace and style but with all the subtlety of a cholera outbreak. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: "Austenland" understands Austen's enduring romantic appeal but has no use for her deeper themes of class, wealth and gender inequality. Read more

Anthony Lane, New Yorker: Everything rings false, and the spectacle of bad actors pretending to be bad actors may trouble your sleep for some time. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: A tribute to Miss Austen needs both sense and sensibility, sparkling wit and a variety of attractive suitors. Read more

Ella Taylor, NPR: If reading Austenland the novel was a guilty pleasure, watching Austenland the movie is like standing around at a deadly cocktail party where the hostess is laughing so hard at her own joke that she can't finish telling it. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: The missed opportunities in "Austenland" are more numerous than dowry-less sourpusses at a ball in a Jane Austen novel. Read more

Sara Stewart, New York Post: Unfortunately, this scattershot comedy only occasionally hits the mark. Read more

Michael Sragow, Orange County Register: It's a piquant idea, but the execution is intolerably clumsy. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Austenland begs a couple of questions: One is why, Keri Russell, why? The other: Where is Christopher Guest when you need him? Read more

Mary Elizabeth Williams, Salon.com: It says weirdos deserve romance too, and that Austenland isn't so much a page in a book or a place on a map, but a corner of your heart. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: There's an inspired silliness to "Austenland," an erratic, entertaining comedy with an inspired premise. Read more

Gail Pennington, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: A mildly surprising and completely heartwarming ending casts a glow over the previous 96 minutes of "Austenland" but can't wipe out all regrets for what might have been. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: The acting throughout falls into two registers; pantomime mugging for most of the cast, while the romantic leads, Russell and Feild, look so ill at ease that you pity them. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: Austenland is modest fun but needs to show it has a brain under its sun bonnet. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: Austenland is so sluggish and plodding that I started imaging a cross-over with another fantasy-resort movie, wherein the Yul Brynner gunslinger robot from Westworld would show up and lay waste to all of these dullards. Read more

Silvija Ozols, Time Out: By the time we get to a painful play-within-the-cosplay-within-the-film scripted by Jane Seymour's grande dame, a truth becomes universally acknowledged: Actors "acting badly" is rarely funny. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: A humorous chick flick for well-read audiences, Austenland is a novel concept. Read more

Dennis Harvey, Variety: Austenland doesn't really satirize Austen's world (or fans) so much as use them as a pretext for a mixture of middling burlesque and routine romantic comedy. Read more

Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice: Austenland the movie is built on the understanding that fantasy is healthy until you elect to live in it-and that sometimes a chase to the airport isn't something you should bother with in the real world. Read more

Stephanie Merry, Washington Post: No matter how bleak things seem, Austen's characters always manage to find a euphoric and contagious happiness. And that kind of feeling needs to be earned. It can't be replicated with a checklist of plot points. Read more