The Jane Austen Book Club
The Jane Austen Book Club ★★★ 2007 (PG-13)
Why yes, this is a chick flick, and unabashedly so. A group of Jane Austen devotees gather monthly to discuss six Jane Austen books, but end up revealing themselves in the process. The characters are not unlike Austen's, albeit living in the dizzying pace of the modern world. There's Bernadette (Baker), a wise and carefree divorcee; free-spirit dog-breeder Jocelyn (Bello); Sylvia (Brenneman), whose 20plusyear marriage has abruptly ended, and her lesbian daughter (Grace); uptight teacher Prudie (Blunt); and a token man, software geek Grigg (Dancy). Austen's spirit floats (figuratively) in and out of the clubber's lives, losses, and romances as they navigate the passages Austen penned two centuries ago. 106m/C DVD, Blu-ray Disc . US Kathy Baker, Maria Bello, Emily Blunt, Amy Brenneman, Maggie Grace, Hugh Dancy, Lynn Redgrave, Jimmy Smits, Marc Blucas, Kevin Zegers, Nancy Travis, Parisa Fitz-Henley; D: Robin Swicord; W: Robin Swicord; C: John Toon; M: Aaron Zigman.