At the Movies: Jane Eyre (2011)

Orphaned at a young age and left in the care of an aunt who ended up sending her to a rather harsh school; Jane Eyre didn't have a happy childhood. But as a young woman with a good education, she gets a job as a governess at Thornfield Hall.

Thornfield is a place of many secrets and mysteries, the biggest of which is it's owner, Mr. Rochester.

Meeting him by accident, Jane is intrigued by him but knows him to be out of her league. But she and Rochester do become friends; despite their differences - in age, temperament, station - but there is one thing about secrets... they are always revealed at the worst possible time.

*Sigh* I feel kind of silly writing the summary for Jane Eyre because - in the words of my father - this is the story all other love stories are based on, but it needed to be done.

As you can probably guess, I'm a bit of a Jane Eyre fan. It's one of those books to which I have a very visceral connection - I still remember the first time I read it - and I love to watch TV/movie adaptations of it; and I do take it kind of seriously, which is why I'm going to say that I didn't like this version of it.

The production values - costumes, art design, etc - are great, but I don't think the script and direction were very good. I was put off by the constant back and forth of flash backs, it didn't work for me, and gave it a very sluggish pace. And there were scenes were it was just awkward. Plus, while I found Michael Fassbender to be a terrific Rochester; I sort of confirmed my suspicion that acting isn't exactly Mia Wasikowska's forte (or at least that she's not yet a mature enough actress to carry a title role) (And no, I didn't like her Alice either).

See, for me, the whole point of Jane is this young woman who has so much passion in her but who was forced by the circumstances of her life to hide all those feelings... until she meets the man who recognizes the longing in her soul and helps her bring the feelings out. But all I got from Wasikowska was awkward at best and blank/flat at worst.

She looked the part but she didn't act the part; and you can't have Jane Eyre without Jane.

So... I'll give it a D+ because yes, Michale Fassbender is that hot, but Mia sucks that bad.

Luv, Alex.