Name: An American in Austen Review: When 21st Century Charm Meets 19th Century Wit
Item: An American in Austen
Author: Arash Nahandian

Boy meets girl. Girl isn’t quite sold on boy. Girl gets transported back in time into her favorite novel and meets her fantasy romantic hero. It’s a tale as old as time, or at least as old as modern romantic comedies go. In An American in Austen, quirky librarian Harriet finds herself questioning her perfectly nice real-life boyfriend Ethan’s marriage proposal.

She can’t help wishing for the swept-off-her-feet passion she’s read about in books. But when she mysteriously falls asleep and wakes up in the middle of Pride and Prejudice itself, coming face to face with the dashing Mr. Darcy, Harriet realizes fiction doesn’t always line up with reality. This playful romantic comedy puts a meta twist on the Hallmark channel’s beloved Austen-inspired Loveuary movie slate.

Led by a winning comedic performance from Eliza Bennett as the fish-out-of-water heroine, An American in Austen affectionately skewers our cultural obsession with Mr. Darcy as the ideal romantic fantasy, even as it indulges in some of those same fantasies. With tongue firmly in cheek, the movie lets us live out the dream of walking in Lizzy Bennet’s shoes, fangirling over the characters we know and love. But by the end, it brings us back down to earth – and back to the perfectly nice real-life partner we may have waiting.

Living Out the Ultimate Austen Fan Fantasy

Our heroine Harriet is a charming mess of quirks – a wannabe romance novelist with a major case of writer’s block. She’s been dating the ever-patient Ethan for three years, but when he pops the question surrounded by friends, Harriet hesitates. As nice as Ethan is, he’s no Mr. Darcy. Harriet wishes for a little more passion and intrigue in her love life. But be careful what you wish for.

After drunkenly ranting to her amused friends about her Austen desires, Harriet falls asleep in a cab ride home and somehow awakens in early 19th-century England. She’s been taken in by the Bennet family from Pride and Prejudice as their guest “Cousin Harriet from America”. At first assuming it’s an elaborate prank by Ethan, Harriet plays along with increasing bewilderment. But with no modern technology in sight, she realizes this Regency dream is somehow real.

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Now immersed as a character in her favorite novel, Harriet resolves to help each Bennet sister secure their happy romantic destinies she knows await. But her very presence alters the course of Austen’s plot and relationships. When she calls out the snobbish Mr. Darcy instead of demure Lizzy, Darcy’s attention turns toward Harriet. Without Darcy pursuing her, Lizzy falls under the spell of the scoundrel Mr. Wickham. Panicking, Harriet tries frantically to nudge everyone back toward their assigned partners – with chaotic results.

The clincher comes when an enchanted Darcy kneels to propose out of the blue to Harriet herself. Though initially starstruck, Harriet realizes the fictional fantasy doesn’t align with her innermost feelings. She rejects Darcy and sets out to get Lizzy and Darcy back together where they belong. With Harriet’s eventual guidance, the duo reunites, bringing Pride and Prejudice closer to its happy ending.

Having found what she was missing – appreciation for devoted nice guy Ethan – Harriet says her goodbyes. She returns home to accept Ethan’s proposal for real, having gotten both her Austen fantasy and a dose of reality along the way.

Laughing Lovingly at Our Austen Adoration

An American in Austen affectionately pokes fun at the almost religious reverence modern audiences have for Pride and Prejudice and its brooding romantic hero. Harriet acts as an audience stand-in voicing our squeals and eye-rolls at the iconic scenes and characters. When the obnoxious Caroline Bingley first appears, for example, Harriet mutters “Ugh, it’s her” – channeling readers’ reactions for 200 years. Through her witty commentary, the movie validates how deeply this fictional world draws us in while also noting the absurdity of workers dressing in period garb for what Harriet assumes is an Austen LARP.

Eliza Bennett carries the film with her stellar comedic presence and impeccable timing. As a stunned Harriet, she lets hilariously transparent fake enthusiasm play across her expressive face when, say, she first meets Mr. Collins (“Oh what a treat this will be”). And she sighs hugely in resignation each time Austen’s plot threatens to reassert itself no matter what she does. Bennett makes us root for headstrong Harriet while conveying her Austen adoration that borders on obsession.

The movie shows noteworthy imagination in its lighthearted reinvention of Austen. The secondary Bennet sisters get delightful boosts in screen time and agency with Harriet pushing Mary to avoid her unhappy fate with Mr. Collins. We get Austen inside jokes like “At least no one’s catching a cold this time” when the sisters walk to Netherfield. The film squeezes a remarkable amount of Pride and Prejudice’s complex plot into a compact timeline without feeling rushed.

The glaring downside is the lack of development for Harriet’s present-day situation. We rarely leave the Austenverse bubble, learning little about her relationship with Ethan before she rejects his proposal. This makes it hard to invest in her eventual pivot to embracing nice guy Ethan when she never gave poor Ethan much thought amidst the Pemberley excitement.

This unevenness reflects the movie’s ultimate message about choosing the real over the dreamily romantic. It’s easier for the film itself to revel in Austenian fantasy, spending most of its energy on recreating Recency hijinks for us rather than fleshing out grounded characters. But the story arc makes Harriet and the viewer confront how reality matters more than even the most enjoyable escapism. Appreciating Ethan’s substance over Darcy’s sparking surface may not be the most swoon-worthy resolution, but it marks a certain wisdom about romance in the real world.

Bringing Austen’s World to Life

While a small-scale Hallmark production, An American in Austen impresses with its detailed period recreations on what must be a modest budget. Director Clare Niederpruem captures the lush pastoral landscapes essential to Austen adaptations, seeming to film at a stately British country home and grounds bursting with vivid greenery. The costuming feels authentic down to the intricate empire waists and breezy muslin gowns.

The camerawork also stands out for accentuating the comedy without going overboard. During iconic scenes from the novel, we get reaction shots of Harriet raising her eyebrows or gazing skyward to punctuate the absurdity from her modern viewpoint. Niederpruem adds zippy montages like when Harriet tries on a series of elaborate and uncomfortable period hairstyles. While played as heightened satire, the direction stops short of spoof and retains a spirit true to Austen’s clever social commentaries.

If some supporting characters like Ethan lack development, the leads shine with Bennett lighting up every scene as the charming fish out of water. The production craftfully balances respect for the source material with playful subversion in service of riotous escapist entertainment.

Escaping into Austen with a Dash of Reality

An American in Austen may flounder when it comes to narrative stakes, but it succeeds as a frothy escapist fantasy bringing Austen’s world to vivid life. Carried by Eliza Bennett’s stellar performance, it’s a laugh-out-loud funny romp poking gentle fun at our collective obsession with Mr. Darcy and Pride and Prejudice. While the grounded story falls short, the movie triumphs as a celebration of Austen fandom – letting us geeky readers live out our wildest Pemberley dreams.

Yet it also reminds us not to get so lost in fictional worlds that we take reality for granted. Appreciating a loyal partner over a charming fantasy can be a hard truth, but it’s a thoughtful balance to the romantic wish fulfillment.

With tongue firmly in cheek yet true affection for its characters, An American in Austen lets us play happily among Austen’s words. It indulges our silliest whims about dashing strangers while bringing us home to real relationships. For any lover of Austen or classics-based romantic comedies, make room on the dance card for this infectious, clever charmer of a film.

The Review