Jane Austen Wrecked My Life

Laura Piani relies so heavily on hopeless Bridget Jones clichés — lots of pratfalls — that the surrounding locale eventually takes centre stage.

This funny and smart French comedy instead gives us a 21st-century Jane Austen. British-French actor Camille Rutherford is terrific.

Jane Austen Wrecked My Life tries to revive the genre but ends up proving it passé.

The risk in explicitly evoking Austen is that it instantly raises our standards. And sadly, Piani can't match her model's clarity or élan. Her movie is tamer and more sentimental, and utterly unconcerned with society.

A romantic comedy for the quiet, thoughtful lovers who yearn for the sincerity of the past.

The true draw in Jane Austen Wrecked My Life is Agathe, a compelling protagonist whose passion for literature and love keeps us sufficiently engaged.

The languid pacing of the film might be off-putting for someone looking for a more American style rom-com and the life insights aren’t as insightful as you’d want from someone who supposedly loves Austen with all her heart

Writer-director Laura Piani keeps the tone warm, maintaining a low-key and sometimes hushed vibe, even though the humour has a bite to it.

We’re carried through by the wonderfully supple performance of Camille Rutherford as Agathe, her face a minuet of bemusement, prickliness and frustration – the whole panoply of miffed. Her features are a script unto itself...

A breezy, bilingual rom-­com about love, literature and all things in between, Jane Austen Wrecked My Life won’t change the world – but it might help you forget about your stresses for a while. That’s something.