The Jane Austen Book Club

This slick chick flick for the brainy set, or at least the Austen fan contingent, promises a portrait of female relationships as seen through social discussions of the novels of Jane Austen. And that's where the film works best, reflecting on Austen's characters through a modern perspective. Maria Bello, Amy Brenneman, Kathy Baker, Emily Blunt and Maggie Grace form the core of the group, with Hugh Dancy as the sole male member. This is definitely engineered to appeal to Austen fans, but the characters feel less sincere than their literary counterparts when the film refracts the stories through our characters, manipulating their behavior to make a point at the expense of honesty and character integrity. What would Jane do? Write more nuanced characters and a less contrived script than this, for one thing. Jimmy Smits, Marc Blucas and Nancy Travis co-star. Features commentary, three featurettes and deleted scenes, or so the press release promises -- a copy was not made available for review by press time. Also available in Blu-ray format.