Hallmark’s next movie in their Loveuary lineup is An American In Austen. How sick of Jane Austen novels will I be by the time this month is over?
Harriett (Eliza Bennett) is a librarian who thinks Mr. Darcy from Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” is the perfect man. When her boyfriend of three years, Ethan (Bert Seymour), proposes to her, she freaks out and answers ‘maybe.’ After the ordeal, she drunkenly wishes someone like Mr. Darcy would sweep her off her feet. Her friends send her home in a taxi, where she falls asleep, only to wake up inside the novel itself. Can Harriett navigate the world of Elizabeth (Bell Barlow) and Mr. Darcy (Nicholas Bishop) without messing everything up?
I hated the beginning of this movie. Ethan was nothing but nice to Harriett and she was awful to him. I could understand if Ethan was self-centered or tried to make Harriett change but we only saw a lovely man who was interested in the things his partner enjoyed and made a huge effort to give her a lavish proposal. And she basically replies with a “Eh, I would prefer if you were a fictional man who is kinda a dick to everyone for most of the book.” What the hell, Harriett?!
When she arrives in 1813, it takes awhile for her to become bearable. It actually isn’t until she realizes that she is massively screwing up the storyline of the book that she magically turns into a thoughtful person. Then, after she fixes the storyline and goes back home, only then does she realize how terrible she can been to Ethan. I mean, it’s a romcom, we need the big romantic gesture…..EVEN THOUGH WE GOT THAT IN THE BEGINNING OF THE MOVIE.
Gah. I don’t really want to recommend this movie but the ending with the Bennets is a little heartwarming. I would have preferred if Ethan told her to kick rocks but I guess we can’t end a Hallmark romcom like that, can we?
Rating: C+