Review: Persuasion, 2022

Persuasion is my favorite Austen novel, so I automatically have high standards for any adaptation. I knew when the first trailer dropped that I was going to have problems.

It's fine, the second trailer was much more promising, I've got a craft project to finish, so maybe it won't be so bad as background viewing...

Nope. I rage-quit during the Uppercross Dinner, and required a High Tea Party and two friends, Taylor and Melissa, whose company made the experience worthwhile, with all of us going full MST3K on this travesty, to finish it.

First Impressions

Persuasion, 2022 is a movie that can't make up its mind on exactly what it wants to be (or, at times, which book it's supposed to be adapting).

It's a decent movie to get people who've never read Jane Austen interested in knowing more and discovering what all the hype is about, because the movie itself certainly doesn't live up to a reputation 200 years strong.

Absent of all contest, 'Persuasion, 2022' is not unenjoyable, and is a coherent movie with some amusing moments. However, it suffers from a lack of focus, and bears only superficial resemblance to the source material.

If I had to describe the movie, I would say that it almost seems as if the narrative style of Clueless, the characters of Bridget Jones' Diary, and the scenery and costumes of Bridgerton had a drunken hook-up with the personalities of 2005's Pride and Prejudice, producing something that resembles the worst of all of them, and no one is quite sure where the worthwhile bits came from, or how they got there.

I think the thing that bugs me the most is Anne's character.

This isn't an Anne who deeply regrets being persuaded against her heart. She doesn't feel like someone who has any kind of deep feeling at all, beyond perhaps a mild discontent and boredom. There's no sense of feeling taken for granted or being treated as an afterthought, no sense of yearning for Wentworth and the life that could have been hers. There isn't even a sense of having suffered for her principles in turning down a marriage of convenience.

Anne Elliot is supposed to be a practical, down-to-earth woman who offers good advice and observes the absurdity of Society Ideals, in spite of her family embodying the worst of those follies. Here, she seems more like Emma, a silly, spoiled Rich Girl who is a willing party to that ridiculousness for her own entertainment who is otherwise entirely content in her slightly tedious life, whose deepest horror is that the attention might be taken off her for more than five minutes. There are also heavy hints of Catherine Morland's Main Character Syndrome, oblivious to anything or anyone outside of herself and utterly ignorant of how to read a room, without the excuse of Catherine's youth and isolation.

(One might also make comparisons to Bridget Jones at the beginning of the same movie, as the epitome of a drunken disaster before she pulls herself together, but it's been nearly two decades since I watched that movie, and my recollection of it isn't the best.)

A relationship with Wentworth seems more like Cher from Clueless checking off the 'hot boyfriend' box on a list of accomplishments, or the natural progression of Marianne Dashwood's romantic delusions had that character never been tempered by reality, than a defining moment of Anne's life that still affected her physically and emotionally eight years later. I get the impression that she'd be just as happy with any other person who paid attention to her, and the complete lack of chemistry between the two actors doesn't help.

Don't get me wrong, both Cosmo and Dakota did a fantastic job with the roles they were given, but their interactions felt forced, their characters selfish and vindictive, rather than yearning for someone they tried and failed to get over. They had better rapport with literally every other character than they did in their supposedly-romantic or intimate scenes. A Persuasion adaptation should not leave me rooting for Wentworth/Louisa and Anne/Mr Elliot as the end couples!

The Good

• The Narration. Because so much of the novel is spent in Anne's head, this was a good way to get across many of the introductions and insights that would otherwise be missed. The 1971 adaptation relied on Sir Walter reading from Debritt's Peerage and several cutscenes to get the introductions across, and added extra scenes for exposition, to great effect. The narration adds consistency to the exposition overload, even if it is undeniably overused.
• The Casting. Whoever was responsible for casting these actors deserves a raise (and therapy for how badly the producers wasted the potential...) As much as I complain about Wentworth and Anne's lack of believability as a couple, Dakota has the kind of expressive face and body language that anyone playing Anne Elliot needs. Cosmo acted like a Captain Wentworth who'd spent limited time in polite company and was suddenly thrown into close proximity with the woman he's spent eight years failing to forget. Henry is the first Mr Elliot that didn't have me rolling my eyes and waiting for the scene to be over. Sir Walter and Elizabeth are so perfect for the roles that I suspect them of being closet Austen fans.
• Lady Russell. Lady Russell tends to vary between adaptations, from a well-meaning snob to someone who cares more about her duty as Anne's Godmother than about Anne as a person, to something verging on a secondary antagonist too obsessed with what she thinks Anne deserves to care about what her god-daughter wants. Nikki Amuka-Bird knocks the role out of the park, coming across as someone who actually cares about Anne, apologizing for contributing to her heartache (It's 2022, we acknowledge when we've screwed up) and actually seems like an intelligent, sophisticated lady who was widowed young and gets to live life how she wants.
• The Crofts. For all that they only appear for two or three scenes (another Crime against Austen that I'll get into later) Agni Scott and Stewart Scudamore are absolute perfection as Admiral and Mrs Croft. They're already my second-favorite couple of the book, an example of the loving felicity in marriage that so often fails to be the standard, but I love them even more here.
• The Musgroves. I'll admit, most adaptations get one of the Musgroves right, and fail at the others. Mia McKenna-Bruce is amazing as the self-obsessed hypochondriac Mary, and Ben Bailey Smith as Charles, rather than the hedonistic and more subtly self-obsessed persona he's usually stuck with, comes off as exasperated yet affectionate, someone who married in haste, but decided to make the best of it rather than taking the easy out of neglecting his wife. They're honestly adorable. Likewise, Izuka Hoyle and Nia Towle breath new life into two rather silly characters. Louisa comes off as closer to the character of Anne Elliot than Anne does, supportive and sensible, lively yet resolute and steadfast. There's some silliness, but it's closer to a sense of humor than genuine folly, and her fall at the Cobb honestly comes out of the blue, because it's utterly against what we've seen of Louisa so far. Henrietta has less to do, but I want them both to have happy endings and would happily read an entire book about the two of them, and that's not often the case.
• The Scenery. For all the many, many, many things this movie did wrong, the sets and scenery is something that it got astoundingly right! It's gorgeous, from the Chinese-inspired wallpaper in Anne's room, to the Royal Cresent and the houses portraying Uppercross and Kellynch, to Lyme and the Somerset countryside. If COVID and my financial situation ever allow, I want to do an entire tour of all those places, preferably in Regency cosplay!

The Bad

Everything else

• The Narration. As much as it works as a storytelling device, it's also very, very overused. It works in Fleabag and The Office because they balance it with good character interactions, and know when a sidelong look or aside to the audience is appropriate to draw us in, and when it utterly ruins the entire scene. Persuassion 2022... doesn't.
• The Dialogue. There were a couple of moments that made me cackle out loud in genuine humor, but most of the time it was more of a disbelieving 'how-did-the-Production-team-see-this-and-not-demand-a-do-over?' scoff. I've never been a fan of cringe humor, and calling Persuasion 2022 slapstick humor is an undeserved compliment. The dialogue is painful, with lines given to the wrong characters or delivered awkwardly. It feels forced and formulaic, and the funniest lines are ones that almost certainly weren't meant to be.
• The "Modernisation". Discovering that one of the screen-writers is an 80-year-old man who had his heyday in the early 90s, and the other is a small-time actress who got her start in "experimental theatre" and has two Shorts writing credits to her name before this project, explains a lot. Everything "updated" for a modern audience sounds like a senior citizen trying to be "hip with the lingo" while talking to his grandkids. I swear I've seen a lot of similar phrasing while reading indignant opinion letters and online articles about "millennials are ruining..." or Young People These Days; Why When I was Their Age..., while some unfortunate young Millennial or Gen Z tries desperately to translate the incoherent ranting into actual Modern English and fails.
• The Main Characters. Look, Cosmo and Dakota did their best with a relatively new director who is new to Film and used to Theatre (done in closer confines and different styles) and a horrible script. I was anticipating far worse. However, it would have been much better if someone had done a secondary round of reading scenes together before the final casting decisions or insisted on Henry Golding playing Wentworth. The rest of the cast play off each other beautifully, but Anne and Wentworth just feel like two people playing a role. Additionally (and this is more aimed at the writers and directors) I can't see any reason why Wentworth would give up Louisa for a self-absorbed, obsessive disaster like Anne,, or why any self-respecting woman like Anne is supposed to be would willingly go back to him after the way he treated her. Wentworth bypasses distant formality and goes straight for ostracization, cruelty and malice. Anne doesn't seem like someone who regrets an ill-adviced choice that changed her life, or someone mourning a love perceived to be lost. Rather, she comes off as a kind of stalker-fangirl in desperate need of a therapist trained in dealing with Narcissism.
• Cutting The Interesting Characters. Some of Persuasion's most interesting characters (the Crofts, the Harvilles, and Mrs Smith, to name a few) are also the ones that establish Anne's character as different to her snobbish, ridiculous family. Anne comes to life with the Crofts and Harvilles, who in another life are those who could have been her family and dearest friends, interactions that are the catalyst for Wentworth starting to see past his resentment to look at the woman he loved and still loves. Anne's enduring friendship with Mrs Smith, to the point of snubbing an invitation from the Dalrymples in favor of her prior commitment to an old schoolfriend fallen into poverty and disability, shows Anne's loyalty, and that she cares more about persons than about rank and status. More time spent with those characters might have made for a better Anne Elliot, and the fact that they only appeared for a scene or two, or were cut entirely, is one of the film's biggest disappointments.
• The Costumes. I suspect that a lot of the Extras and Minor Characters got their costumes from a Historical Costume Hire shop, or second-hand from other Period Productions. Maybe a Theatre Costume sale. They were all dressed beautifully, with a degree of accuracy that makes me want five minutes in a dark alley with whoever was in charge of Cosmo and Dakota's wardrobes. Even the secondary cast like Sir Walter, the Musgroves and Lady Russell, if not strictly accurate to the time, look good. Wentworth looks like the poor sailor he was eight years ago, despite being an experienced Captain with more than enough prize money for some new suits. Anne looks like the Costuming Department suddenly ran out of money and had to dress her from whatever was on sale at the nearest Walmart.
• The Adaptation. I feel like Persuasion 2022 would have been a lot better if they had picked a style and stuck with it. "Modern" adaptations have been done well, like Clueless and Bridget Jones, and that one fanfiction where Wentworth and Anne are former pairs skating partners, with Wentworth going from Rez Kid with talent, to becoming a Canadian Ice Hockey Star, while Anne suffers a career-ending injury the first time she skates alone at the Winter Olympics. Part of me wonders if Persuasion 2022 didn't start off going full Bridget Jones or The Lizzy Bennet Diaries, before someone made the executive decision to set it in the 1800s after all, but didn't bother to update the script or Anne's costumes.

The Live Commentary

"What is she wearing?" (All of us, multiple times)

"What was the costuming department thinking?" (All of us, multiple times)

"Chinese wallpaper. Very fashionable for the period, don't see that often." (Taylor) /"Are those cranes behind her? They're a symbol of marriage, nice foreshadowing!" (Melissa, who is studying historical Japan) / "In Japanese culture, yes, not so much in Chinese culture." (Taylor, who is Chinese and has opinions about treating East and South-East Asia as a monolith culture)

"Is that a spencer or a chemisette?" (Taylor)/"Either way, she's wearing it wrong." (Me)/ "Did the costuming department just buy a men's shirt from Target to throw over the top?" (Melissa)

"Crushed velvet. On a beach. Dear Gods." (Taylor)/ "And somehow, not the worst choice the costuming department made..." (Me)

"Please walk into the sea and drown yourself. Then the movie will be over." (Melissa)

"What is that on her head?" (Taylor)/ "I could do better with thirty minutes and a hot glue gun." (Melissa)/ "I think I saw that exact fascinator in Spotlight last week." (Me)

"Fredrick, you have at least $20,000 in Prize Money. Hire yourself a decent tailor or buy a new suit. You look like the poor sailor you were eight years ago." (Me and Taylor, at various points)

"Ugh! No! Seriously, whose idea was it to put that on film?" (Melissa, the 'eavesdropping' scene.)

"The antagonists and support cast are all wearing proper clothing and hats; why do the main characters all look modern and cheap?" (Taylor)

"WHY AM I ROOTING FOR MR ELLIOT TO SUCCEED WITH ANNE?" (Me, possibly traumatizing the neighbors but also conveying everything you need to know about this movie.)

"Oh, my God! You're in public! Did none of the consultants do a basic Google search on regency etiquette?" (Me, multiple times)

"Henry Golding, you are too good for this movie!" (Taylor, but with hearty agreement from Melissa and Me.)

"The Director has a theatre background and still let the costuming department get away with this?" (Me, who can go on for days about the importance of costuming as a storytelling technique)

Final Thoughts

I can see why some people like this adaptation, even if I disagree with them.

Part of me wonders if they didn't originally intend for the movie to go full Bridget Jones as a modern adaptation, and get the costuming department started making "Modern-Retro-inspired" costuming to that effect, before revising it to take place in the 1800s after all. That would explain the disparity between the accuracy of the background characters' outfits, and the more "stylized" (to put it politely) nature of the main characters' costumes.

I think that it's the lost potential that gets me the most. This movie had everything: the Big Budget, the Studio, the Star Power, the acting talent, the built-in audience of Austen fans... it shouldn't have failed as badly as it did.

It's a lot like M Night Shamaylan's "The Last Airbender" or Chris Columbus's "The Lightning Thief" movies: if it's your first introduction to the source material, you'll probably exit the cinema and head straight for the nearest store that's likely to carry the original. Also, there's nowhere to go from there but up...

However, if you are even a casual fan of the original, you're likely to come out fuming at the sheer volume of crimes committed against the original, and may wish to see a doctor about your sudden high blood pressure.

If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go watch the 1971 adaptation (It's on YouTube, check it out) with a tub of ice cream and some embroidery.

Natasja Rose is the author of two Austen Variations and twenty-nine non-Austen books of various genres, two of which are being adapted as scripts for a mini-series.

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