55
Metascore
34 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80VarietyDerek ElleyVarietyDerek ElleyAn ersatz "Pride and Prejudice" in all but name, Becoming Jane is a finely tooled Brit-lit costumer that, like Anne Hathaway's flawless accent as the young Austen, lacks only that final convincing 5%.
- 75Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanBecoming Jane has a burnished feminine sadness, and the director, Julian Jarrold, gives it a creamy-dark visual flow.
- 67Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerChristian Science MonitorPeter RainerIt's movie-making as match-making.
- 67Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam ArnoldSeattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam ArnoldIt's an enjoyable period romance. Yet, ultimately, the unique magic of Austen so beautifully caught in 1996's "Emma" is missing.
- 63ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliThere are enough similarities between the movie and "Pride and Prejudice" that one could be forgiven thinking this screenplay is Austen lite.
- 60Village VoiceVillage VoiceBecoming Jane turns into a presentable Harlequin romance, with hurdle after hurdle succeeded by an eleventh-hour turnaround.
- 50New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinA bearable period chick flick with a self-congratulatory “realistic” conceit.
- 50Chicago TribuneChicago TribuneThe solid cast and honest Austen scholarship make Becoming Jane fitfully entertaining. But it's hard for the film to escape the shadow of Austen's superior talent when it filches so much from her books.
- 50The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe film tries to squeeze Austen into one of her novels, and the peg doesn't fit.
- 50Washington PostStephen HunterWashington PostStephen HunterSo I expect the Janeites who love the author will feel themselves ill-served by the film, which appears to have even less basis in fact than "Shakespeare in Love." As for the rest of us, the question is simpler: Is it worth the eight bucks?