Persuasion Movie Review

The 2021 Netflix "adaptation"

Welcome to Reading Revisited, a place for friends to enjoy some good old-fashioned book chat while revisiting the truth, beauty, and goodness we’ve found in our favorite books.

Since we read Persuasion by Jane Austen last year (August 2023) I have been meaning to watch the new Netflix adaptation of it. I had heard too many negative reviews to expect to love it, but I thought it might be a funny movie to watch when I had an evening to myself.

Close Reads HQ

did a live watch of this when it first came out so I heads up for some of the worst parts. Therefore I was not surprised to find Anne Eliot drinking wine straight from the bottle (a lot) or that the screen writers completely butchered some of Jane Austen’s best lines. But I still found myself surprised and disappointed by what this adaptation did to this beautiful story about an introverted, older heroine with a few regrets.

After that fairly negative introduction I do want to point out some aspects of the movie that I think were done very well. It can be very easy to criticize, when in reality nuance in all things is usually the best policy. So with that in mind, here we go with some aspects of the movie that I did enjoy!

Pros

I think this film is worth watching because it is a very creative adaptation. It is so creative that at first I was wondering if it was meant to be a parody of the novel. If that had been the case, then I think I could have fully enjoyed the experience. However as the movie went on it became clear that it was meant to be taken seriously.

The characters are very well cast and acted. I think sometimes people assume Austen wrote serious books because all old books are serious (though if you read old books you know that is nowhere near the truth). In reality Austen, while having serious plots and moments, writes hilarious characters, scenes, and relational dynamics. She knows the human soul and is able to convey it with a wit (maybe like no other). It is always in a dry British style, but if you are not laughing you might be missing the joke (as a side note, I think the audiobooks can be very helpful in this situation). The main characters in Persuasion are not very comedic, but a lot of the side characters are meant to be very funny and the movie did pick this up very well. Anne’s younger sister, Mary, is a great example. In the book she is ridiculous and annoying, but in the movie the actress played this up so well that I was laughing aloud at points. Anne’s father is another good example of the ridiculousness of the character being drawn out for comedic purposes. There are a lot of side characters that this is done well with.

While I do not think the writers got Anne’s character right (more on that later), I do think her monologues are very funny. If this was just a movie and not a Jane Austen adaptation I would find her very likable. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t seem like Anne at all.

I am not exactly sure how I feel about breaking the fourth wall, but it is an interesting and creative way to get into the head of this introverted heroine. In the novel we find ourselves privy to Anne’s thoughts through the narrator, especially because Austen frequently uses indirect discourse (a mode of letting the narrator speak with a characters opinions….this is one should not simply pull Austen quotes out of context and assume they are her views. For example: Austen doesn’t actually think “it is a fact universally acknowledged that every man in possession of a fortune must be in want of a wife”…however, Mrs. Bennett does think that!). I digress. So while breaking the fourth wall feels a little odd, I do think it was a creative way for a film to get us inside Anne Eliot’s head without having a constant voice over. Also, Anne’s Jim-like (from The Office) glances at the camera are very funny.

I’m so glad they kept the letter at the end fairly close to the book.

The last aspect of the film that I think is well done is the cinematography and the sets/scenes. It is honestly a beautiful movie. If they had kept the script closer to the book (with a few creative changes for the medium) it would have been a lovely movie. Unfortunately, this is not what happened. So with that we can move on to my criticisms…

Cons

Let’s start with the biggest problem. That problem is Anne. She seems to be a completely different character from the book. Is she another Lizzie Bennet now? In the book she is a more introverted heroine that is harder to get to know, but Jane Austen makes her likable all the same. What a feat! The movie is just lazy. Instead of figuring out how to make a introverted, more closed off character likable, they simply make her a different person entirely. Drinking wine from a bottle now? Anne Eliot? No. Also the scene when Anne calls Charles out for wanting to marry her first? My (and Jane Austen’s) Anne Eliot would never. Nor would she ever dream of tauntingly calling to Captain Wentworth out of a window. She has class. This was too much for me.

The dialogue slowly killed me the whole movie. The writers took some of Jane Austen’s best lines and changed them to sound silly and mean nothing. What why are exes more upsetting to Anne than friends? Back in the early 1800s people were labelling people as tens? There are so many cliches! A few could have been funny, but it honestly feels cheesy.

It seems like the writers couldn’t decide if this was a funny satire or a serious movie. The dialogue and narrations go back and forth between ridiculously funny to serious advice and it doesn’t work. It feels like a better produced Lizzie Bennett Diaries, but the setting wasn’t updated. I think if the setting was updated it could have worked, but then it would have taken more creativity. It seems like the writers stole Jane Austen’s story and setting, but coopted it to give their own opinions. This feels like cheating.

On to my next issue. The writers did not trust the audience. There was far too much explaining of the meanings behind characters’ actions and events. It is okay for the audience not to be able to express exactly why everything happened in words, if the story is good enough it will wash over them and they will still be able to fully enjoy the story. (This is a note for modern authors everywhere…trust your audience I tell you!)

Okay I promise the negativity will come to an end soon. Here’s my biggest problem with the movie. This very quickly turns into a modern story. At the very beginning it feels perfect and then the music changes, but the costumes/time period don’t. All of the sudden we are in modern times but the characters are still dressed up (minus the hair styles…oh the modern hair styles!) like early 1800s people. This could have been done well, but again the tone is not consistent. Then we come to lots of modern ideas being thrown at us. Anne would make a good Admiral? Mrs. Russell is openly talking about her extramarital sex life with Anne? Mary is developing a habit of gratitude? The universe has perfect timing? Fanny’s spirit was in the wind? And then everyone is making out at the end.

Finally we come to the very end and Anne’s speech is not at all like the thoughts that she has in the book. Instead of being her humble self accepting advice she tells everyone not to ever let anyone tell them who to love no matter how unconventional it is. Oh goodness. Jane Austen would not approve.

So there you have it. I honestly tried very hard to enjoy this movie for what it was, but in the end I couldn’t do it. This movie had so much potential but fell so short.

And on that note, I am going to go read Pride and Prejudice and then watch the miniseries and the Lizzie Bennett diaries, because those are two examples of how to do adaptations right (and they are SO different)

I would love to hear what you thought of the new Persuasion movie in the comments!

In Case You Missed It:

• Pride and Prejudice Part 2

• Reading Revisited ep. 7 - Next Year’s Book List

• Our Favorite Austen Things

• Pride and Prejudice Part 1

A Few Reminders:

• If you are wanting to get in on the in person or virtual community please contact us!

• Here is the whole list of this years book selections

• Book lists from previous years can be found here.

*As always, some of the links are affiliate links. If you don’t have the books yet and are planning to buy them, we appreciate you using the links. The few cents earned with each purchase you make after clicking links (at no extra cost to you) goes toward the time and effort it takes to keep Reading Revisited running and we appreciate it!