Julie Lee

Okay, okay - I've been a huge fan of Persuasion since I was a girl, so my expectations were high, but the director and screenwriters of this adaption absolutely brutalized it. I was intrigued with the concept of a modern version, but wow this fails on so many levels. The dialogue is horrific, scenes are so shortened they sometimes seem like 60-second Instagram videos, and some of the cast were never given enough screen time or good lines that offered much insight into the character (if you'd never read the book, can't imagine some of this movie makes any sense). Dakota Johnson is beautiful as always, and did give a sense of an Anne-type in a modern style, but the scenes of her speaking to the viewer as a sort of close confidant were often non-sensical. The potential for hilarity was there, but never comes across strong enough to laugh. The script writers never seem to merge 'modern interpretations' with lines direct from the book in a consistent manner. I get rewriting some of the characters a bit, but Louisa's about-face on Wentworth made zero sense. Cosmo Jarvis came across as an overly simplified yet emotional characterization of Wentworth - I blame a good part of that on the butchered lines and stilted scenes. I applaud the diverse actors but even that seemed overdone on purpose, and not as a thoughtful way of representing modern possibilities. So yep, not impressed with this film at all, which really sucks - I've hoped for many years that a great new adaptation would be made, but I guess I'll watch the old Ciaran Hinds version again.