There's a lot of awkward dead air in this movie. Finishing it felt like a chore. Persuasion is not that compelling of a story to begin with and this adaptation definitely didn't help. And I'm REALLY sorry, but they couldn't have chosen a worse actor to play Captain Wentworth. I almost hoped they'd do a twist and have her end up with Mr. Elliot instead. (also Henry Golding IS a 10.) The only positive thing I can think of is Dakota's english accent not being distracting.
Not much happens, nothing that wasn't done before, so not much to say. "Meh" is just the perfect rating for this one.
Felt more like a film about some people role-playing Austen, than an actual Austen adaptation.
Too much time spent on trying to make Anne into someone she's not (mixing modern language with history worked for Dickinson, it did not work here).
Not enough time spent on the love story, which felt more like an afterthought in the end.
At least it's pretty.
What?! What is this movie... Maybe it could have been better if it was not titled Persuasion or meant to be Austen.
I'm not sure what the goal was here but if it was to make Anne nearly dislikable, they have succeeded. Not sure what was up with Wentworth but at least there you have some type of pinning. But then also, it was like they made him nearly too sad or something. Anne & Wentworth both felt miscast with Dakota and Jarvis. Neither gave the type of miserable or toying longing needed for those characters and the story. Or maybe that could have been down to the writing or direction as well. Props for trying to add in diversity with some of the other players - especially the casting of Golding as Mr. Eliot. However, some of the interactions between the characters felt as if they had been changed and thus changing the dynamic, integrity and many points for the purpose of the movie.
In trying to modernize, they do this fourth-wall style that ruins the beauty of Austen's words at times and borders on antagonizing the rest of the time. Not that the style cannot work, but the writing/direction here was just wrong. It was as if they were telling the audience something and playing it out with commentary as if we cannot or would not gather the details, personalities, or characteristics otherwise, and they again, changed the purposes for our main love interests.
Persuasion is already a slow churn, but this somehow made it worse. It was as if they focused on all the wrong elements at all the wrong times, and simply wanted to make a movie that was not Austen's Persuassion. The shots of the buildings were good I guess.
okay so this was not as intense and romantic as the book but I loved this quirky, modern rendition of Persuasion... definitely nice for weekend watch
No. I’m sorry but the casting was not right for Fredrick he looks dumbfound everytime someone speaks. He has not much of any charisma. Stayed for Dakota. Story on its own lacks.
We enjoyed this. Dakota Johnson did a great job.
That was so bad AHAHAHA. *hides behind a tree and cries*
I think I read somewhere that the creators behind this were going to take on some of the other Austen romances and HAHAHA (I’m scared).
Early in this film, Lady Russell tells Anne: "I say this with love: abandon all hope." Coincidentally, this is my advice to people who watch this movie with the expectation of enjoying it.
I have a file on my Notes app full of complaints but I'm going to do the healthy thing and delete it soon. But before that, there's one thing that I just have to say (and please keep in mind that I was pretty excited for this movie after the trailer released because we already have two absolutely perfect & straight from the source material versions of Persuasion - which for the record, is one of the best & angstiest Austen stories - i.e. the 1995 and 2007 adaptations, and modernizing the story is such a cool idea...if only it's done well):
Ben Lloyd-Hughes who played Mr. Colbourne on Sanditon season 2 pretty much hit the nail on the head when he said the following:
"Playing any good Jane Austen scene is all about what’s not said. It’s all about the subtext and the ellipses and the unrequited aspects of it, and I really loved that. I love that dynamic. I love not having everything in the text that just spells it out, and having to almost tell one story with your eyes, and another with the words, and then another with your physicality, your body language, and your interacting with that person."
A large part of what makes Persuasion compelling is the restraint, and the inability to say everything that you feel due to the constraints of communication, expectations of propriety, and honestly: straight-up shame & embarrassment. It's the disconnect between what you want to say and the itty little bit that you can say. Not only does Persuasion (2022) in fact spell out everything through the text/dialogue, but in case you didn't get it, Dakota Johnson will also break the fourth wall and go through it even more explicitly in case you're a bit hard of understanding — this film simply does not trust that audiences are smart enough to grasp what's going on. I swear: this film could've been a whole lot better if only Johnson didn't talk to the screen so much. :upside_down:
TL;DR: Ever wondered what Austen's angstiest love story would be like without the angst & chemistry? Well, you no longer have to guess.
Watch this if you want to feel patronized by what an 80 year old man thinks a woman in her 20s talks like and behaves like. They completely missed or ignored the essence of Anne Elliot and watching this movie it made me wonder if they've even read the book. Unfortunately even apart from the book the movie does not stand on its own as a good movie. Making a main character "relatable" by making her awkward and clumsy and pathetic? Have we learned nothing from twilight? And was the gen-z tiktok talk(he's a 10, i never trust a 10) supposed to impress the 17+ year olds watching this? Cause I feel like the director/writers are really underestimating the young people of 2022.
If you love British drama, run for the hills.
It's supposed to be a British drama and so you expect.... ya know... drama. Especially compared to the 2007 version, which captures the absolute misery and pining of Anne, the new Anne just doesn't seem miserable enough. They spent more time trying to have her come off as witty but just ends up kind of an asshole. In general, her character also doesn't have any particularly compelling qualities to win you over, so when she's supposed to be all miserable I'm kinda just thinking, "Well.... sucks to suck?". Similarly the 2007 Elliot comes off as strong, competent, authoritative, and sexy and man do you feel for Anne. Like damn, you really screwed up Anne but like I feel really bad for you at the same time, we're in this together hun, let's go wallow. By comparison when the new Elliot comes back, you don't really feel like she's missed out on much. He's basically an average bro, like initially kinda cute if you look hard enough, but the personality of a thumb. His wanna-be Darcy brooding just comes off as constipated.
I think a lot of the problem is the writing, which spent too much effort trying to add comedy (which it failed at), but Persuasion, while it has funny moments, is mostly supposed to be a DRAMA and TRAGEDY and reflect how yeah sometimes people make absolute shit decisions and you are going to pay dearly for your mistakes and it doesn't always get better with time, and that shit suuuuucks. You don't get much of a feel for that.
My biggest beef is that they BUTCHERED one of my all time favorite romance quotes... and with no obvious purpose.
The original in the book and the 2007 movie: "There could have never been two hearts so open, no tastes so similar, no feelings so in unison, no countenances so beloved. Now they were as strangers; nay, worse than strangers, for they could never become acquainted. It was a perpetual estrangement"
The new version: "There could have never been two hearts so open, no tastes so similar, no feelings so in unison, no countenances so beloved. Now they were as strangers; nay, worse than strangers, they were.... ex's."
Just WHY. It was the wrong moment to try to modernize this. Do they think their watchers can't handle words like "perpetual"? How patronizing. It really ruined an already mediocre movie for me. The real tragedy is that someone paid money to produce this Bridgerton (which I also hate) knock off. I recommend watching the 2008 BBC Sense and Sensibility for some proper misery and pining to help flush out all this garbage from your system if you failed to read this review before watching.
I like the narration in off, the plot is Interesthing but the love interest is so meh. The movie is good better than teen ones.
This isn't as bad as many people have suggested. It takes some liberties with Austen's work and Anne's glances to the camera are a distraction but the movie plays along pleasantly enough.
First watch: I don't hate this as much as most people seem to. Enjoyable enough to be watchable.
Second watch: I'm a little bit more forgiving of anachronistic dialogue, but this is just pushing it. I wish this had better writing.
Okay, not as horribly unwatchable as everyone was saying, and honestly the (intended) spirit of the movie was as satirical and pokey-fun-y as Austen liked, BUT, they took it too far and it was pretty bad.
I mean, sure, modernize it a bit in terms of humor and intimacy — see Emma 2020 — but do you need to be rating attractiveness on a number scale? And I quote: “because he’s a 10. I never trust a 10” And again: “Daddy’s broke. Playtime’s over.”
Yikes.
Surprisingly very good. Not just a chick-flick. Some good moments worth watching.
8.5/10
Sadly this version of persuasion became background noise for me.
I quite liked this movie up until the last 15 minutes.
For me, Dakota Johnson was - to my surprise - great for this role, and I am content with most of the cast - with the exception of Cosmo Jarvis, who I find to be a rather dull counterpart for Dakota. Honestly, I never liked Jarvis (especially since Lady Macbeth - shout out to the Lady Macbeth shout-out in the movie though) and would have liked a more lively person for this role. Perhaps the mistreated Henry Golding, who I was actually rooting for - his character arc was suddenly, conveniently, and stupidly halted in the last minutes, which left me feeling WTF. Since this is a Jane Austen, without having read the book, it was obvious that Anne and Frederick would end up together, but after almost 2 hours of build-up, a rather anticlimatic and hideous ending relocated a "could have been a great" movie to a "had good things in it" place in my heart.
In general, Persuasion was seemingly intended to be a Bridgerton/Fleabag-inspired film (Boo from Fleabag was even featured in it), and that recipe works for me on every level, but perhaps this should have been a limited series instead, leaving enough space for a proper ending to unfold (and with a different actor playing the lead male part hehe).
It's not the best adaptation of the book, but not the worst. It's more quirky than dramatic. I would give it a 6.5, but not completely wanting so round up.
As far as the other comments, I'm not sure why so many whiners. The claims there is not chemistry between the actors is not really true. It's just the Captain is not as handsome as the book describes. Mary is about spot on, annoying and interfering. Anne is okay, quirky instead of sarcastic.
I hate to say this but it seems like every time they attempt to take classic novels or 1800's era stories and replace white characters with non-white actors, the majority of comments come from people with lower than the average score given for the films. This one of no different at the time I lost this. Perhaps those of you that feel your privilege of being preferred by circumstance of birth alone should take more notice of what these books are about.
that was certainly a movie.
I must start by saying I did not read the book, so I have no way of knowing if it's true to the story or not.
I can only say that, when I started watching, I felt like this was another "Pride & Prejudice" type of story, where the leading man and woman only find each other in the end, but, this time, I didn't felt so invested in rooting for them. It felt like she could end up with any of them, or alone, and it would be okay by me.
Annie's sister Mary was hideous! I don't know how they could put up with so much from her!
It had some lovey photography, but the constant talking to the camera made me uncomfortable. Also, Mr. Elliot was unique, alright...in his bullshit....
It felt like an okay Sunday afternoon movie, but not completely satisfying.
i enjoyed it. there’s that. i definitely think there were inconsistencies with the modern language, fleabag-esque device, and the music (like the one song at the end- it should’ve been every time they had moments throughout the movie to set up a motive or just had more modern music). idk what was trying to be accomplished by the modern language but i think the fleabag thing could’ve worked really well without the modernization of austen, because those lines were just super predictable. whoever played wentworth did not understand the assignment, and henry holding understood his five minute assignment. i think dakota and most of the women were great and i liked some of the comedic add ins at the beginning- it reminded me of the emma aesthetic. i also think the reveal of the louisa thing with the letter at the end was very on point to my reaction reading it, but the whole engagement thing and her coming back had completely rushed pacing in the film. just very complicated views.
Wow... what can I say, I was really bored. I definitely dozed off and would've rather been watching a new season of Sanditon. Thumbs down.
Shout by Salomé T.BlockedParent2022-07-16T19:43:39Z
Well, that was terrible, but he's a 10 all right.