• Genre: Comedy Drama
• MPAA Rating: PG13
• AMG Rating:
• Regional Coding: 1
  USA and territories, Canada

Robin Swicord's adaptation of the novel The Jane Austen Book Club concerns a group of women and a man who meet regularly to discuss the works of the popular author, but soon discover their lives are playing out much like one of the author's fictional worlds. Among the members of the club are Sylvia (Amy Brenneman), a recent divorcée; Bernadette (Kathy Baker), who has decided to accept her advancing age; and Prudie (Emily Blunt), who feels guilty about her persistent fantasies of cheating on her loving husband. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Bonus Features

• cc
• Deleted scenes
• Cast and crew commentary
• Behind-the-scenes
• The Life of Jane Austen
• The Book Club: Deconstructed
• Los Angeles premiere

Actors

Kathy Baker, Maria Bello, Emily Blunt, Amy Brenneman, Hugh Dancy, Maggie Grace, Lynn Redgrave, Jimmy Smits, Marc Blucas, Kevin Zegers, Parisa Fitz-Henley, Gwendoline Yeo, Nancy Travis

Director

Robin Swicord

Producer

John Calley, Julie Lynn, Diana Napper

Adult Situations, Profanity, Sexual Situations, Drug Content

• Sound : DD5.1
• Language : Eng/Fre
• Subtitles : Eng/Fre/Spa

• Screen : WSE
• Dar : 1.78:1

Review

In an era when appealing to the maximum number of demographics is paramount for box-office success, The Jane Austen Book Club wears its chick-flick status with unusual pride. Perhaps with a title like that, it was never going to fool anybody, but writer/director Robin Swicord's film has no problem being exactly what it is: a classically structured, tightly written multi-character romance intended for women. (And don't think the filmmakers less than savvy -- they knew that title would bring in both Austen fans and Oprah Winfrey fans.) If not for its relative obscurity -- it did not, after all, do well at the box office -- The Jane Austen Book Club might join movies like Beaches and Fried Green Tomatoes as pillars of the genre. While there is some amount of backhand in that compliment, the film really does work as a satisfying diversion, in part because it's eager to praise the intelligence of its audience, rather than treating them as indiscriminate genre enthusiasts. By structuring the film on a reading of Jane Austen's six novels over several months, Swicord is not merely providing intellectual window dressing -- she really does engage the themes of the novels, which her characters discuss eloquently. This isn't to say The Jane Austen Book Club is going to be confused for something deep, only that the characters are intelligent people worth caring about, and that life issues have an undeniable timelessness that's captured in our great literature. While no performances truly stand out, Emily Blunt makes an impression as a character much meeker and more likeable than the shrew she played in The Devil Wears Prada. Hugh Dancy is also charming as the book club's lone male member, the quirky and disarming hunk who certainly does help divert the film's target audience. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

• Release Date : February 05, 2008
• Length : 106 Minutes
• Dvdsides : 1
• Dvddiscs : 1
• Upc : 043396225152