Angelgirl8 Review of An American in Austen

An American in Austen (2024 TV Movie)

Lost in Austen did it Better

[5/10 · 19 February 2024]

First of all, I liked the message in this about an American Pride and Prejudice fan realizing her idealizing of Darcy when comparing him to real men. However, I can't help but compare this movie to the BBC miniseries Lost in Austen (or LiA) which also has a modern girl protagonist drop into the plot of Pride and Prejudice and the story goes off the rails. In both, because the characters end up "off book" the traditional P&P characters have to react to these plot changes. For me, how Darcy and Lizzie behaved and reacted just did not match up with their book characters. Especially with Darcy, I didn't buy that he would have immediately fallen for Harriet and expressed it as forthcoming as he did and be so moony over her. In LiA, its Mr Darcy also falls for the modern protagonist, Amanda (spoiler: they end up together at the end) who in this swapped places with Lizzie. Mr Darcy's first reactions to Amanda is disgust at her rudeness, impropriety, and outspokenness. Essentially, their relationship mirrors Darcy and Lizzie's in the book, enemies to lovers and this Darcy's reactions to the changes in P&P's plot felt way more authentic to Darcy's character than how this Darcy reacted to Harriet. I do like the Lydia did not run off with Wickham in this one (YAY). AND this was the least annoyed I was with Mrs. Bennet even though she didn't feel right either. Overall, An American in Austen was fine with a good message but the characterizations of Austen's characters were lacking.