Persuasion, A Review

Based on the timeless love story.

Persuasion follows Anne Elliot (Dakota Johnson), a woman who was once in love with young Sailor Captain Frederick Wentworth (Cosmo Jarvis) however because of his poor wealth she was persuaded by her family to give him up. Now eight years later Anne is still single and unhappy and still yearning after Wentworth. A visit to her younger Sister Mary (Mia McKenna-Bruce, Get Even) however reintroduces the pair, with both unsure how to act around each other.

Wentworth is now wealthy but Anne worries her earlier rejection may have put him off. Things get further complicated when Anne’s sister-in-law Louisa (Nia Towle) becomes interested in Wentworth and Anne’s cousin William (Henry Golding, Crazy Rich Asians) becomes interested in her. Anne and Wentworth once had a romance worth fighting for but is the spark still there after all of these years or will the pair be forced to part from each other all over again?

Before this film had even been released die-hard Jane Austen fans were already shunning it, labelling it as a far cry from Austen’s original novel and calling out the film on twitter. Personally I have very little knowledge on Austen, with the 2020 version of Emma. being my only experience so far, so I did try and go into this film with an open mind. Obviously as a big reader I’m aware of the power of Jane Austen and I’m also familar with disappointing adaptations but for me this film was a nice, guilty pleasure kind of watch. I think as a non Austen fan I was able to enjoy this film for ots comedy raher than the actual story but I definitely can see why it’s recieved such attention, there’s really nothing worse than a disappointing book adaptation.

Fourth wall breaks are becoming increasingly popular ever since the critically acclaimed Fleabag and say what you will about them, I personally love them. Here having Anne speak to the audience was brilliantly funny and I loved her running commentary on her family, love life and general misery. I feel like Dakota Johnson portrayed a remarkably relatable character and whilst she may not be the Anne from the books I personally loved her performance. Anne’s eight years of solitude, perpetual wine drinking and general awkwardness all felt very post modern and I did really enjoy her as a character, it was just a lot of fun.

As well as its fourth wall breaks Persuasion also made use of modern dialouge in a period setting, another trend that seems to be popular as of late (eg The Great). I will admit I am also a fan of this and just find it so funny seeing these period clan characters speaking as if from the modern day but I will admit as well that Persuasion may have taken it too far. It seemed like every single line was modernised and I feel like if it weren’t for the clothing this could have been a modern romcom set in the present day, which obviously wasn’t the intention.

The actual romance here was nicely done and I thought that Anne and Frederick had a nice chemistry. Their reunion after eight years apart was both awkward and endearing and I enjoyed the very Austen-esque longing throughout. Anne and William’s chemistry however wasn’t as impressive and I just didn’t buy Golding as Anne’s love interest. He was so obviously playing a villianous character trying to get in the way of Anne and Frederick and so the entire subplot just felt a bit pointless because it was obvious the two wouldn’t get together. Maybe the story played out differently in the novel but for me this romance was far too by the book, it’s definitely not my favourite romance I’ve ever seen.

Overall Persuasion was a fun and entertaining watch and despite its online bashing from Austen fans I enjoyed this film for what it was. Don’t get me wrong I can definitely see why the film has been recieved so poorly but I myself am not an Austen fan and so I was able to go in completely open minded. Fourth wall breaks and modern humour may not be everyone’s cup of tea but personally I love them and so this film was a nice guilty-pleasure watch for me.