The famed Shakespeare and Company bookstore sits on the banks of the Seine. Featuring English-language fiction and non-fiction, the store has attracted famous writers, especially during the 1950s. Henry Miller and James Baldwin were among those who helped enhance the store’s reputation. Even now, Shakespeare and Company remains a mandatory stop for English-speaking tourists in Paris, a visit made easy by the store's proximity to Notre-Dame de Paris.
Agathe Robinson (Camille Rutherford), the main character in director Laura Piani's debut feature, Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, works at Shakespeare and Company while avoiding writing a novel that's been bubbling inside her head for years. She stopped after a couple of chapters.
A workplace pal named Felix (Pablo Pauly) serves as Agathe’s possible romantic interest and confidant. Sensing Agathe's need for a creative boost, he submits the opening chapters of her novel to a writers’ residency at an English estate that once served as Austen's home. The residence accepts Agathe, who didn't know her colleague had submitted her work.
After a bit of waffling, Agathe heads for the estate. Once in England, she's greeted by Oliver (Charlie Anson) whose unreliable car adds to the awkwardness of an already strained situation.
As it happens, Oliver is a distant grandnephew of the famous author. Agathe and Oliver don't click, a sure sign that he'll be her Darcy, the heartthrob star of Pride and Prejudice who has made his way through numerous big-screen Austen adaptations.
Despite its English-lit pedigree, Piani, who also wrote the screenplay, presents most of the dialogue in French, always a good way to add weight to a movie whose moves seem tailored to fit a familiar romcom structure.
Aside from Oliver's doddering father (Alain Fairbairn), the assemblage of writers offers little by way of additional color. Fairbairn's character likes to stroll around the estate sans trousers, not much of a joke that the movie repeats.
The budding romance between Agathe and Oliver is disrupted when Felix pays a surprise visit to the residency, hoping to consummate what heretofore has been a platonic relationship.
The movie hinges on Rutherford’s ability to captivate, which is limited by unconvincing strokes. Before visiting the estate, she’s inspired by the image of a naked man she sees at the bottom of a sake cup. In a broadly played scene, a naked Agathe mistakenly opens the door to an adjoining room at the residency. It happens to be Oliver's.
Perhaps Piani, who uses a last-minute appearance by documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman to good effect, hoped to show how literary obsessions can be crippling -- both in writing and romance. Eventually, Agathe must claim her turf and, of course, finish her book.
Absent a major helping of Austen-level wit, Jane Austen Wrecked My Life seldom sparkles. Given the choice, I'd rather have spent a couple of hours browsing in Shakespeare and Company than sitting through a movie that left me unconvinced and, worse, unmoved.
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