Yet no laurels are due to the creative team behind 2022\u2019s Persuasion<\/em>. This Netflix adaptation appears birthed by the success of the streamer\u2019s Bridgerton<\/em>, mashing it up with Fleabag<\/em> by someone who only knows literature through the Spark Notes Twitter account<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This latest adaptation remains in Regency-era England, rather than moving the rom-com spirit of Austen to, say Fire Island in 2022<\/a> or London in 2001<\/a>. However, instead of retaining Austen\u2019s period dialogue, the screenplay has its 19th-century characters occasionally slipping into 21st-century slang and talking about \u201cplaylists,\u201d \u201cself-care,\u201d and the \u201ctransactional\u201d nature of marriage. Dakota Johnson stars as Anne Elliot, a twentysomething heroine who frequently shares her innermost thoughts with the camera in between embarrassing herself and snarking on those around her (who do at least deserve it). She laments being persuaded to dump her beloved Wentworth (Cosmo Jarvis) because he wasn\u2019t worthy of her in station or in wealth. However, eight years have passed and the tables have turned. He\u2019s now a decorated captain in the navy, and her family has been forced to rent out their home to pay the debts of her vain father (Richard E. Grant), coincidentally to Wentworth\u2019s sister-in-law and her husband. Despite the passage of time, Anne still mourns her decision, and seeing Wentworth again pains her. Yet, she is unsure if she still loves her as he once did \u2014 though the film\u2019s conclusion will be obvious even to someone who has never had the pleasure of reading Austen or watching one of the literal dozens of adaptations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Persuasion<\/em> trusts neither its audience nor its source material, raising the question of why the movie even exists. It thinks so little of its viewers and imagines they cannot be trusted with Austen\u2019s own dialogue, which \u2014 while more formal than contemporary language\u2014 doesn\u2019t have the opacity of Middle English. Instead, the screenplay from Ron Bass and Alice Victoria Winslow sands Austen\u2019s sharp repartee into dull Gen-Z speak. We don\u2019t need Anne\u2019s insufferable sister (a perfect Mia McKenna-Bruce) calling herself \u201can empath\u201d to know she\u2019s terrible, and we\u2019re smart enough to comprehend Anne\u2019s regret for losing Wentworth without her calling them \u201cexes.\u201d Persuasion<\/em> also doesn\u2019t think enough of Austen herself; it ignores why her writing has endured for two centuries with its attempts to inject modernity into the Regency world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The haphazard approach creates a film that is neither truly Austen nor an imaginative update. It\u2019s lazy and bland, lacking the humor and heart that are the hallmarks of Austen\u2019s work and its best reimaginings. The author can be adapted traditionally and feel modern (see 2020\u2019s Emma<\/em>, I beg of you) or merely serve as inspiration for a contemporary update (the delightful aforementioned Fire Island<\/em>), while still retaining the spirit of the writer\u2019s work, but that\u2019s absent from Persuasion<\/em>. If you have no real affection for Austen, then you should write your own damn movie. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While its script has had me ranting about it to anyone who\u2019ll listen for days, watching Persuasion<\/em> on mute would leave most of its (few) pleasures intact. Director Carrie Cracknell makes her film debut after a career in the theater, but she has a marvelous visual sense and a talented team. DP Joe Anderson\u2019s intimate, handheld camerawork keeps the film from feeling staid with lovely work in both interiors and exteriors. John Paul Kelly\u2019s production design is lush and enviable, full of saturated tones and vibrant murals indoors and idyllic beaches and fields outdoors. Marianne Agertoft\u2019s costumes appear finely crafted and are as likely to induce a swoon in the audience as the film\u2019s abundance of suitors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking of which, Henry Golding has a supporting role as a potential husband for Anne, and one hopes he\u2019ll try his hand again at a period romance. He ably inhabits the is-he-or-isn\u2019t-he-a-rake spirit that feels so essential to these types of movies, and it\u2019s unfortunate that Persuasion<\/em> was the film he chose. Similarly, Grant appears born to play one of Austen\u2019s fools, and it\u2019s such an utter waste that this<\/em> was the film that finally brought him into the fold. Johnson is good for what she\u2019s required to do \u2014 be charming and introspective in her voiceover, while bringing a modern feel to the proceedings \u2014 but what she\u2019s been tasked with is the problem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The issue with Persuasion<\/em> isn\u2019t just its near-heretical take on its beloved source material; it\u2019s that it does it so poorly. Beyond its apparent contempt for its audience and Austen, there\u2019s little comedy or romance in this period rom-com. A nontraditional Austen adaptation doesn\u2019t have to bear her signature wit, but I should laugh and sigh with delight more than I groan in agony.\u00a0 “Persuasion” is out now in limited release. It streams Friday on Netflix.<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/persuasion2-1024x683.jpg\")
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