Austenland

[00:00:04] Speaker A: This Film is Lit, the podcast where we finally settle the score on one simple Is the book really better than the movie? I'm Brian and I have a film degree, so I watch the movie but don't read the book. [00:00:15] Speaker B: And I'm Katie. I have an English degree, so I do things the right way and read the book before we watch the movie. [00:00:22] Speaker A: So prepare to be wowed by our expertise and charm as we dissect all of your favorite film adaptations and decide if the silver screen the or the written word did it better. So turn it up, settle in, and get ready for spoilers because this film is lit. Look, it's one of those Mr. Darcy guys. It's Austenland. And. And this film is lit. Hello and welcome back to this Film is Lit, the podcast where we talk about movies that are based on books. We have every single one of our segments this week. Lots to get into. We're gonna start how we always do. If you have not read or watched Austinland, we're gonna give you a brief summary of the film in Let me sum up. Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up. Jane Hayes, an American woman obsessed with Jane Austen, especially Colin Firth's portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, spends her entire savings on a trip to a Jane Austen themed resort in England. At Austenland, guests receive pseudonyms and period costumes, living as ladies of the Regency era. The highlight of the resort is guaranteed romance with the male actors, though no touching is allowed. While Jane can only afford the cheapest copper package, the other guests have purchased the most expensive platinum option. Although she befriends fellow guest, Ms. Elizabeth, charming Jane is treated with disdain by the manager, Mrs. Wattlesbrook, who prefers the wealthier guests. Jane and Elizabeth meet their actor companions, the obsequious Colonel Andrews and the unenthusiastic Mr. Henry Knobley, Mrs. Wattlebrook's nephew and Lady Amelia Hartright, another guest. Amelia and Elizabeth flirt openly with Knobley, who is reserved and Jane finds disagreeable. Their argument mirrors the first meeting of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice. That's parenthetical. There. Martin, the resort's chauffeur, stablehand, flirts with Jane, jealous, nobly rescues her from walking in the rain. She visits Martin at his quarters. After more flirting and witnessing the birth of a foal, they kiss and spend the following afternoon together. When another actor, the muscular Captain George east, arrives and flirts with Jane, Martin rebuffs her for parading around with the actors she asks if he is breaking up with her and he replies that they were never going steady. Forced to play piano for the group, Jane performs the only song she knows. Hot in here. Shocking Mrs. Wattlesbrook. On her way to find Martin, Jane is stopped by Noblee, who warns against cavorting with the servants. Returning to the house, Jane fights off a drunken Mr. Wattlesbrook. Determined to find love by the end of her stay, Jane takes charge of her story. Elizabeth helps her steal some of Amelia's costumes and Jane charms the group with her newfound confidence. Mrs. Wattlesbrook discovers Jane's contraband cell phone and prepares to evict her. But Amelia lies to save her and in exchange, Amelia blackmails Jane into helping her and east be alone together. The party rehearses a play mirroring what the characters did in Mansfield park and Jane pairs herself with Noblee to allow Amelia time with East. Jane and Noblee bond and Martin attempts to apologize to her. After the disastrous play, Jane and Noble sneak off to her room where he requests a dance during the final ball. At the ball, Noblee confesses his love to Jane. Disillusioned after watching the other actors fulfill their guests fantasies with fake proclamations of love, she declares that she would rather have something real and leaves. Spending spending the evening with Martin. Departing Austinland, Jane discovers that Amelia is American and that Nobley had asked Amelia to pretend Jane's phone was hers. To prevent Jane being sent away, Mrs. Wattlesbrook reveals that the actor assigned to Jane was not Nobley, but Martin, whose romance with Jane was fully scripted. Angry at being duped and certain she is not the only guest assaulted by Mr. Wattlesbrook, Jane threatens to sue Mrs. Wattlesbrook and shut down Austinland. Martin is sent to the airport to smooth things over with Jane, but Nobley appears asserting that their own affections were genuine, that his own affections were genuine. But Jane dismiss. When Nobley tries again to express his feelings, Jane thanks him for being perfect and leaves. Back home, Jane clears out her Darcy collection. Noblee arrives, having traveled across the Atlantic to return her sketchpad. He explains that his name truly is Henry Knobley, he is a history professor who simply wanted to experience the Austin era and that he does love her. Jane finally believes him and they kiss. A mid credit scene reveals that Elizabeth has bought Austinland and turned it into a theme park. Assisted by Colonel Andrews, Mr. Wattlesbrook now works as a garbage collector. Garbage picker. Captain east does a strip show. To Amelia's delight, Martin is snubbed by the guests and Jane and Noblee Are still very much in love. The end. All right, we do have a guess who this week. Let's do it. Who are you? No one of consequence. I must know. Get used to disappointment. Hey. [00:05:05] Speaker B: Okay, these aren't. These aren't particularly hard. I think you'll get these. A man, perhaps in his late 20s, came into the inn's main room. Jane caught a glimpse of a worn paperback novel in his hand before he stashed it behind the piano. He wore his hair a little long, though he didn't sport the mid jaw sideburns Jane liked so well. And he was, she thought, taller than a man should be. If he doesn't play basketball. [00:05:33] Speaker A: Uh, I'm gonna assume, I guess I'm gonna assume that this is Henry Nobley. [00:05:40] Speaker B: Close. This is Martin. [00:05:42] Speaker A: Oh, okay. I mean, he had a book, so that was the only thing. Because when we first meet, he's not in an inn, I guess. But when we first meet Henry, he has a book. [00:05:53] Speaker B: That's true, he does have a book. When we first meet him and I [00:05:57] Speaker A: looked ahead to the final description and assumed that was Martin based on the description. [00:06:01] Speaker B: So she was unnaturally Buxom, in her 50s and sported short bleached hair heavily sprayed and an attached fake bun of a slightly different shade. Her eyes widened when she saw Jane and her surgery tightened skin stretched to admit a wide smile. [00:06:20] Speaker A: Well, this is. I feel pretty confident this is Elizabeth. Charming. I don't know her actual character. Like her name because that's her fake name. Yeah, I don't know what her actual name is. [00:06:29] Speaker B: I actually don't think we ever find out what her actual name is in the book. [00:06:32] Speaker A: That character. [00:06:34] Speaker B: Yeah. You're Red Bud. Yeah, for sure. And she was lovely. Her natural looking blonde hair was long, twisted up with plenty of curls around her face. She had an open, honest face, heart shaped even as those old writers might have said. Pink cheeks and lips and darling blue eyes. She was slender and tall and not a day over 39, 43 tops. [00:06:59] Speaker A: Hmm. Well, this sounds a little bit like Amelia. Although Amelia is much younger than that. I would say. I don't know about much younger, but she's appears younger than 39 or 40 in the film. But the blonde hair and everything else, I'm gonna assume because it doesn't really apply to anybody else that I can think of that this is Amelia. [00:07:18] Speaker B: Yes, it is. That is Ms. Amelia Hartright. The man was 6 foot 2 or taller, broad, deliciously manly and dark haired. He had a pleasant farm boy appeal to him, though he also Seemed at ease in his gold trimmed blue uniform. [00:07:36] Speaker A: So originally, as I said, I read ahead and thought this was Martin based on the dark, pleasant farm boy, dark hair, pleasant farm boy appeal. And I thought the gold trimmed blue uniform was maybe his when he's like the driver or whatever. That would make sense, but now I'm thinking this is probably not. I was gonna say, well, this might be Henry Nobley, but I don't think that necessarily tracks. I think this might be George East. [00:08:00] Speaker B: Yes, this is George East. [00:08:02] Speaker A: Nailed it. The gold trimmed blue uniform for a sailor makes more sense than anything that Henry wears in the film. So. All right, well, I got three of them. The first, again, I just. So there's not a description of our Darcy. [00:08:16] Speaker B: There's like a brief. Hang on, let me see if I can find it. There's like a brief little description. Mr. Knoblee was taller than Colonel Andrews and his jaw was in no need of the long sideburns to give it definition. The line of his shoulders identified him as the most likely of the bunch to have been the shadowy lurker from the great hall. In the light, she found him handsome in a brooding sort of way. [00:08:42] Speaker A: Not. [00:08:42] Speaker B: Not a. Yeah, not a ton to go off of. [00:08:45] Speaker A: Yep. All right, I got some questions I'm gonna ask him in. Was that in the book? [00:08:50] Speaker B: Gaston? May I have my book, please? [00:08:52] Speaker A: How can you read this? [00:08:54] Speaker B: There's no pictures. Well, some people use their imagination. [00:08:57] Speaker A: So at the beginning of the film, we are introduced to Jane. I can't remember her last name already, but Hayes, Jane Hayes, who is our main character who's obsessed with Jane Austen. I don't know if that's a coincidence that she's named. Is it she? [00:09:09] Speaker B: I think it's a coincidence. [00:09:10] Speaker A: Okay. Like, I didn't know if like her parents named her after Jane Austen and that's why she, you know, grew up loving it or something. I don't know. Anyways, but we're introduced to her and we're kind of learning a little bit about her life and what her whole deal is. And we see her going through a handful of things, but one of the things we see is a scene at. Brief scene at work where she is at, in her office and an ex boyfriend shows up at her office, starts like breaking stuff on her desk, sexually assaults her and then tells her that her biological clock is ticking and that she should get with him, get back with him because he's as good as it gets. And I needed to know if that scene came from the book because it's Insane. I get what we're just doing. Again, it's a rom com, right? Everything is heightened. Yes. [00:09:50] Speaker B: It's Cranked up to 11. [00:09:51] Speaker A: Cranked up. I get it. But I was like, holy cow, what is going on? Like, he literally comes in and breaks something on her desk, smacks her in the butt with a ruler, and then just is an asshole. And I was like, wow, [00:10:05] Speaker B: no, that does not happen in the book. And I was a little disappointed that we didn't get like a quick scene of him being escorted off the premises or something, because he should have been escorted off the premises. [00:10:17] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. Nobody really reacts to this guy just being completely. Yeah. Ridiculous in their office. [00:10:24] Speaker B: Something that I liked about the book was that scattered throughout are these little vignettes going through all of the men that Jane has, like, dated in some capacity or had a crush on or whatever of going, like, all the way back to, like, childhood. And I thought it was an interesting way to sprinkle in some romantic backstory for her. And there were definitely more than a few that helped explain why she is the way that she is. But I don't recall anything similar to this particular guy. [00:11:00] Speaker A: Yeah, okay. It's an. It's a character that is, like, maybe too arch for a book. I don't know. Maybe not. It's. Again, it's not. It's just. It's not that a guy like, guys like this don't exist. They do. But he is dialed up in a way that is like, hard to like in such rapid fire succession. You're like, okay, all right. So it is revealed that she. She. She goes to a travel agent who explains that there is pitching this Austinland experience to her, which is that she can go to this place in England where she can live out and like, role play like she's in a Jane Austen novel. [00:11:38] Speaker B: It's basically like an immersive lerping experience. [00:11:41] Speaker A: Yes. And she's very interested in, obviously, because she's a huge obsessive Jane Austen fan and specifically a huge fan of Mr. Darcy. And we're also introduced to her best friend that we see throughout this montage at the beginning of backstory. And her best friend is like, hey, you shouldn't do this. This is a waste of money. You're gonna regret spending all of your savings to go to this thing. This is a bad idea. And I wanted to know if she had a best friend who was the voice of reason. Well, I say the voice of reason. I don't like. Whatever. [00:12:15] Speaker B: It's her money. [00:12:16] Speaker A: Yeah, it's her money. She's like a single woman in her 30s. I'm sure she's, she's like, if you [00:12:19] Speaker B: want to go on a three week LARP to a Jane Austen thing, like, fine, you have my blessing. [00:12:25] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:12:26] Speaker B: But yes, she does have a best friend in the book who's kind of a voice of reason. Her name is Molly, which I believe it's also Molly in the film. And she, in the book specifically, she tells her not to go because she thinks it'll make her obsession worse. [00:12:41] Speaker A: Does she? Because then in the movie they like make a deal where if she goes and then I can't remember exactly what happens, but if she goes, they make a deal where if she gets back [00:12:49] Speaker B: she'll like, she'll like get rid of her collection stuff. Yeah, Jane Austen memorabilia. No, they don't do a deal like that in the book. [00:12:59] Speaker A: So she decides she's gonna go though, because she just can't, she can't imagine not going on this. On this larp. And so she books the trip, heads over to England, gets there, and when she arrives and she meets Mrs. Wattlesbrook, played by Jane Seymour, who is like the host of this, who runs it all, she explains that she has booked the basic copper package and she has all these little booklets of different levels. And while all the other guests have booked the elite platinum package. And the copper package is the cheapest one and because of that she gets the smallest quarter. It's still a fine room. It's not I was expecting when they took her to a room closet or something, but it's not. It's like a perfect perfectly fine. [00:13:42] Speaker B: Like a Dickensian garret. [00:13:44] Speaker A: Yeah. No, not really. It's like, okay, but. Yeah, but she stays in like the servant side of the house or whatever and she has like a small room and all that sort of stuff. And she doesn't get to do all of the other. Not every single one of the like, events and stuff that the other people do. And I wanted to know if that element of like class disparity was a part of the book. [00:14:05] Speaker B: So this is based on something from the book that the movie made the decision to emphasize more. So overall, this movie is a pretty faithful adaptation, at least in broad strokes. But one of the bigger departures is that in the novel, Jane does not decide to go on this trip on her own, nor does she spend her life savings on it. What happens is that her fabulously wealthy and kooky great aunt Carolyn dies. And because she knows about Jane's obsession, she leaves her this all expenses paid trip to Austinland. [00:14:48] Speaker A: Okay. [00:14:50] Speaker B: So once she gets there, Mrs. Waddlesworth does assign her a kind of like lower status character to play because she knows that Jane was gifted the trip and isn't likely to be a return customer or like have wealthy friends that she can recommend Austenland to. So she's not going out of her way to like impress Jan is with the other guests. [00:15:14] Speaker A: It's like the same idea in the movie. [00:15:15] Speaker B: Yeah, it's a very. It's a similar idea. That being said in the book, it does seem like Jane largely gets the same experience as everyone else. There isn't any mention of her having a worse room or worse clothes or not getting to do any of the activities or anything like that. I'm a little six of one on this. I. I understand the movie going with the simpler explanation of she bought herself the trip but couldn't afford the best package. But I also felt like the movie kind of stressed the class element in a way that felt superfluous to me in the end because much like the book, it ultimately doesn't seem to matter. [00:15:57] Speaker A: Yeah. It's not like she's playing a forced to play a servant or something or like, like I said. And also even we don't even really do a whole lot with it in terms of like, oh, her room's tiny and miserable. There's like the ceiling leaks or there's nothing like that. [00:16:10] Speaker B: She has a slightly less fancy room. [00:16:13] Speaker A: Yeah. And slightly less fancy clothes. [00:16:15] Speaker B: Slightly less fancy clothes. Which again, ultimately doesn't matter because she steals clothes from the other girl halfway through. [00:16:21] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:16:22] Speaker B: And also she gets nice clothes. [00:16:23] Speaker A: Also it feels like her clothes match with what the experience she would want anyway. Like. [00:16:28] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:16:29] Speaker A: Because it's been a while since I've watched Pride and Prejudice, but I feel like her dress she wears in a lot of this is not that far off from what what's her name wears a lot. Right. It's like a relatively plain. [00:16:39] Speaker B: But like, it's a relatively plain because. Yeah. I mean, you're right. In Pride and Prejudice, the Bennet sisters are not wealthy. Like, they're gentry, but they're not wealthy. [00:16:50] Speaker A: Yes. And so I feel I was like, my memory of like, what? Elizabeth Bennet. That's her name, right? [00:16:54] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:16:54] Speaker A: Wears is like not dissimilar from what Jane wears, which is, I assume on purpose because they're alluding to her as Elizabeth. So they want her to look like Elizabeth. So I'm like. It doesn't even necessarily. Which gets to a whole thing I have in a second here later about a question, but it gets to the whole thing of like, but why is this even a problem for you? This seems like what you want. Is it not? Like, I don't. Are you not. It's like sometimes she forgets it's a role. I don't know. We'll get to it. I have a whole thing about that that I want to discuss here in just a second. But when she gets there. We are then introduced to Jennifer Coolidge's character, Elizabeth Charming. And I just wanted to know if she was. Now obviously based on the descriptions, visually they nailed it. Like what they were going for, like the very done up, like giant bosomed, you know, like trophy wife, kind of older trophy wife, kind of like look. And I want. But anyways, I wanted to know, character wise, if the book character felt at all similar to Jennifer Coolidge's character in the film. Because Jennifer Coolidge can be very funny in the right role. I actually like her a lot. Like I loved her in the White Lotus in the season she was in. I really liked her in Legally Blonde. There's plenty of movies I've seen Jennifer Coolidge in and thought she's great and she's fine at times in this movie. But I also don't think she was given enough. And we talked, I said in the prequel there was talk about how she ad libbed a lot of her stuff. And I don't think that was to the film's benefit, assuming that's true. Because a lot of her stuff I thought was not particularly funny. [00:18:29] Speaker B: It's a little up and down and [00:18:30] Speaker A: was kind of rough and like, okay at times. Again, she is funny. But anyways, I just wanted to know if her character felt similar to the book. [00:18:39] Speaker B: Okay. So again, I have some conflicting thoughts on this. The character of Ms. Charming is very similar to her book counterpart. Maybe like a little less dumb, airheaded, but overall incredibly similar. Like she's there to have a specific experience and like, particularly the way that she tries to do like Regency era speech. [00:19:09] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:19:09] Speaker B: Is straight from the book. [00:19:11] Speaker A: Yeah. Like doing a very bad British accent. [00:19:14] Speaker B: So on that count, I thought that Jennifer Coolidge was inspired casting. [00:19:19] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:19:20] Speaker B: But I, I do agree with you that I felt like maybe she was phoning it in a little or her, her performance was a little up and down. [00:19:28] Speaker A: Yeah. There's times where she's funny and other times where it's like, oh, God, yeah. Okay. [00:19:33] Speaker B: That being said, I think I would still give the movie the edge here, mostly because I Liked that the movie gave her and Jane more of an actual friendship. But I also thought that Jennifer Coolidge brought some warmth and some charm to the character, even if her performance was a little rough. [00:19:53] Speaker A: Yeah, I actually liked the moments that were less comedic between her and Jane were the better moments in the film, probably cause they were more scripted, actually. Scripted. Whereas some of the, like, humor bits I thought just weren't that funny and were a little like. Kind of like. Okay, I can tell you're like, vamping a little bit in a way that doesn't exactly isn't landing. [00:20:14] Speaker B: And to be fair, that is book accurate. Like, she does do that in the book. [00:20:19] Speaker A: And to be fair, yes, in the context, kind of meta. Meta. Textually, in the context of it, she is vamp. Like, she is improving. Like that's what they're all doing. So, like, I guess that works in that sense. But then the movie. But it's still as a movie, it feels like it. I don't know, it just. It should be funny. And I just didn't find her funny a lot of the time. Occasionally I did, but not as much as I wanted to because again, I usually find her very funny when written well. So that this brings us to the kind of thing I was alluding to a second ago that I thought was very strange and kind of ended up being. One of the main issues I had with the movie as a whole is Jane. She is introduced to. They're introduced to their companion, the men that are going to be like, their romantic interest over the course of their stay there. And she is introduced to Henry Knobley, who is very cold when he meets her. [00:21:12] Speaker B: Yes. [00:21:12] Speaker A: And they have this very cold reaction. And she reacts to it very awkwardly and also like, oh, what's his problem? And I was like, okay, he's clearly doing Darcy. But she seems, like, surprised and taken aback by it. And then other parts of it, like. Like where she's like, being put in the, like, lesser room. And like. And like, they're like, treating her as though she's strange and stuff. I'm like, okay, I get that. I guess there's this weird meta level of like, you can't tell how much of that is the. The. The script slash the production versus them just being assholes, I guess. But like, they're treating you like a character in a Jane Austen novel. And she seems confused by the fact that they are treating her like a character in a Jane Austen novel. And again. And particularly that this guy is behaving the way Darcy behaves, which again, we Find out isn't even. It gets weird and meta because it. It's not even like he's necessarily trying to act like Darcy. He just is kind of like him in that. I think that's what we get by the end is kind of the reveal that, like, he is just kind of a cold, awkward, standoffish person. And so those interactions are not necessarily him, like, acting like Darcy. It's just kind of like how he is. And it just so happens that that works. But either way, from her perspective, when she meets him, she seems very confused and upset that he is. And, like, doesn't get that he is. That he is so cold and standoffish when I'm like. But isn't that the whole point? And I wanted to know if that dynamic came from the book because it drove me crazy for much of the film. [00:22:56] Speaker B: Yeah. This is something that I struggled with in the book as well. And I understand. I think what Shannon Hale is trying to do because part of the entire point is that she goes to this larping experience to be in a Jane Austen novel. But then also the plotline is supposed to be kind of mimicking a Jane Austen novel. So there's like the literal plot level, and then also there's like a meta plot of the. [00:23:31] Speaker A: Of Austenland. The experience is a Jane Austen novel. But then. [00:23:34] Speaker B: But then. [00:23:35] Speaker A: Yeah, there's plot of Austinland. The book is also. Is that what you're saying? [00:23:39] Speaker B: Yes, that is what I'm saying. So there's like these two levels to [00:23:43] Speaker A: it, and that's what makes it really weird. [00:23:44] Speaker B: Yeah. And I understand the. The idea that, like, you could get in that situation and particularly if you're ill prepared for it, that it could be a strange situation to be in. But I think that maybe just like some. Some narrative wires got crossed. [00:24:07] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:24:08] Speaker B: In between all of the, like, different levels of what we were trying to do here. Because, like, I agree with you, Mr. Noble is so clearly the Darcy character. And James seems upse. Upset and annoyed by it most of the time. [00:24:22] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:24:23] Speaker B: Which is fine on the meta level because she's the Elizabeth Bennett character. So she should be annoyed and upset by it. But it doesn't make sense on the. [00:24:34] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:24:35] Speaker B: LARPing level because she should just be playing along with it. [00:24:40] Speaker A: Yeah. Yes. That's what. Well, yeah, that's what I'm saying is like, you should just be playing along with it. But it seems like she's actually annoyed by it. But it seems like. But aren't you aware that what you're doing that he's doing again, that he's doing Darcy. So if you want to be called back to him, that makes sense in character. But it also then goes beyond that to seem like she's actually doesn't like him. And you're like, but it's the character. I'm so confused. And then, yeah, it just gets meta. It gets mixed up in a way, [00:25:13] Speaker B: and it makes it seem like I'm looking for a book note. Yeah. On page 105, quote, the dream of Mr. Darcy was tangling in the unpleasant reality of Mr. Nobley. And then I wrote, girl, what are you talking about? He's exactly like early Darcy. And it makes it seem like she doesn't actually know the story a little bit. [00:25:36] Speaker A: That's what I'm saying. I'm like, what is? What is? It's the whole point of the character. It was making me like. I was like, what is? It's. But yeah, and part of that is just because of the multiple levels of the weird meta nature of it, makes it hard to figure out exactly what you're supposed to be getting from each character in each moment where you're like, are they. Which I'll get to. I have a note in Lost in Adaptation that I think ultimately it kind of gets to a place where it works. And I'll talk about that later, where I was like, okay, I guess this kind of works in a weird way. And the fact that it is so confusing almost is the point. Maybe. I don't know if it was intentional, but I kind of got something out of it that I want to talk about later. But anyways, yeah, I found that, like, her reaction to him initially, just very strange. So then she also meets Martin, who is a stable hand, and, like, he's the driver. He's just one of the servants or whatever, played by Jemaine Clement from Flight of the Conchords. And he's this handsome stable man who. They start flirting, they start cavorting. I wrote that before the movie said it. I did. I wrote, does she start cavorting with the handsome servant man? And then later he said, how dare you cavort with whatever he said? So I was using the right wording from the start. But does she start cavorting with Martin, the handsome stable hand? [00:26:54] Speaker B: Yes, she does strike up an affair with Martin, the gardener. [00:26:59] Speaker A: He seems to do everything. [00:27:00] Speaker B: Yeah, he does. He seems to be doing a little bit of everything in the movie. [00:27:04] Speaker A: Then I wanted to know if this scene came from the movie, because it's a pretty fun little or from the book. It's a pretty fun little scene. She's out writing. They're out writing one day, and her horse ends up. Something happens, and he has to take her horse back. Cause it's tired. Martin takes her horse back. For some reason, he's gonna go take the horse back and bring her another horse or something. And so he leaves her out there. He goes, I'll be right back. But then she just starts wondering. And then. I love. This is a little thing, but in the movie, she wanders over to a road, and then Henry finds her there. And it's raining. [00:27:36] Speaker B: Yes. [00:27:37] Speaker A: And Henry is like, what are you doing out here? And she's like, oh, Martin's coming back or something. And she's like, oh, he'll come back. And I'm like, well, but he won't know you walked away from where he left you. How will he find you? [00:27:50] Speaker B: I'm looking for you over there. [00:27:51] Speaker A: Yeah. Like you were in a field and now you're on a road in the wood. Like, what? You just wandered away. Okay. Anyways. But he goes, oh, here, let me. I can't abide you staying out in the rain. Or something like that. And he puts her up on his horse and they have to ride together. So she has to ride. She has to put her legs over the horse. She can't ride sidesaddle in order, so whatever. And so he has to rip her dress all gallantly. And I wanted to know. That scene came from the book. [00:28:15] Speaker B: This is not from the book. And I thought it was a great addition to the story. [00:28:20] Speaker A: It's a good scene. [00:28:22] Speaker B: Good scene. [00:28:23] Speaker A: It's a good scene. [00:28:24] Speaker B: It really fits with the whole oeuvre [00:28:27] Speaker A: of what we're doing here. What we're doing here. Yep. I thought it worked well. And I was like, wow, what a love triangle we have brewing here. Moving on a little bit. I just want to know if this came from the book. And then also I love, too, that the reveal later that this apparently is staged. [00:28:44] Speaker B: Yes. This is like a bit that they do. [00:28:46] Speaker A: Yes. That Martin, in order to endear himself to. And at this point, we don't realize that he's. You know, we think it's maybe real or whatever, because he doesn't seem to be her actual, like, match or whatever, romantic interest, but he works in the stables and he says, oh, a horse is giving birth. And he, like, brings her and shows her. He goes, go get hay. And then as she runs out and she comes back, he has. Which made me suspicious that that was fake. In that. That was the only clue I had that, like, something shady was going on. When he was like, go get some hay. And then when she gets back, the horse is just. I was like, that's not. How quickly. Oh, I don't think like, it. That's like 30 seconds. I was like, I. I've seen videos of horses giving birth. It's a little more traumatic than that and a little more involved. But. But anyways. But she goes, gets back and he has like, oh, the horse gave birth. And I wanted to know if Martin birthed a horse and if it was revealed that it's like, all a ploy. [00:29:41] Speaker B: This is also not from the book and I do have slightly mixed feelings about it. I appreciate what the movie's doing with this. I especially like the late reveal that it is a recurring thing that they do and it's not something special. [00:29:55] Speaker A: Like, it seems to be something and not a horse. [00:29:58] Speaker B: But I was also, like. I was so distracted by the logistics of this scene. Like, where were they keeping that? It's bloody when she comes back. How did he bring it out so [00:30:11] Speaker A: fast with fake blood? I guess it's just like in the stable next door and he just. [00:30:17] Speaker B: He just trots it out over. [00:30:18] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:30:19] Speaker B: Put some taro syrup on it. [00:30:22] Speaker A: Yeah, I would imagine. I don't know. So then at this point, they've been hanging out and getting together. You know, everybody's been kind of doing their thing for a while. And at this point, Mr. George east shows up, who is a. Apparently a pirate. Like 1870 pirates do not exist and haven't for, like a long time. Not. Not this kind of pirate does not exist and it hasn't for, like a while at this point. [00:30:46] Speaker B: He came in fresh from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. [00:30:50] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:30:50] Speaker B: Filming on the next lot. [00:30:52] Speaker A: Yeah. It's like golden aged piracy was like 150 years ago or something. 100 years. More than 100 years ago. But anyways, yeah, it's 1870 and he's a pirate that was in the West Indies and I wanted to know if. Oh, and then he immediately starts wooing Jane and Martin gets jealous over this and I wanted to know if this all played out similarly in the book. [00:31:16] Speaker B: Eventually, a new character named Captain east does show up. I liked that the movie made him kind of a pirate. It's fun. [00:31:24] Speaker A: It makes sense because he's a terrible actor. Like, we see that he does, like, softcore, like porn and stuff, and is like a soap opera actor. [00:31:32] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:31:32] Speaker A: And so it makes sense that his version of a sailor Is just like a bad pirate. Yeah. [00:31:36] Speaker B: And like you said, it is. It is a bit anachronistic. [00:31:41] Speaker A: A little bit, yeah. [00:31:42] Speaker B: But I liked it. I thought it was fun. I don't recall Martin getting, like, jealous of her hanging around with the other actors at any point in this book. I could be misremembering. [00:31:57] Speaker A: Would make sense, too. Again, I guess the idea is that in the movie, he's. That's part of the. [00:32:03] Speaker B: I think it's supposed to. It's part of the script. Because him, like, breaking up with her, quote, unquote, is also part of the script. [00:32:09] Speaker A: That gets messy in the film, in my way. [00:32:12] Speaker B: Oh, I have. [00:32:12] Speaker A: So there's thoughts about that. I have a question about it. It gets really strange of, like, what. Why would that be part of the script? Okay, sure. [00:32:20] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:32:20] Speaker A: Then I liked this. In the movie, we get a little reveal that all of the actors. We cut to this, like, pool villa that I guess is somewhere nearby, somewhere on the ground. But all of the actors, when they're not, you know, on. On site acting with the. With the. The customers, they, like, hang out here and they're around the pool and they're, like, grilling and watching TV and, like, enjoying, you know, drinks and stuff by the pool. And I wanted to know if that came from the book, because I thought that was a fun little detail. [00:32:50] Speaker B: It doesn't. The closest we get to seeing them, like, being behind the scenes is one short little scene where Jane accidentally overhears Colonel Andrews smoking a cigarette and talking to some other. She's not sure who it is at the time, but talking to one of the other actors. But I really liked this. I thought it was fun, and I appreciated that the movie gave us that look of what they go and do. [00:33:17] Speaker A: It reminded me of if you stumble into the backlots of a ren faire and the actors are back there hanging out, listening to music or whatever, you know, and like, yeah, it was that kind of thing. It's like, yeah, that's what they would be doing. Okay, scene. And it was mentioned in the summary, they're all hanging out in the parlor or whatever and playing piano. And they ask Jane to play piano. And they insist. And I'm like, but can you. Why would they think she could play piano? Most people cannot play piano. [00:33:50] Speaker B: That is true. [00:33:51] Speaker A: Why would they think she. And she goes, well, I can only play one song. And it turns out that the one song she can play is Hot and her by Nelly and I. And she plays it and sings it, and it was. And they're all. And. And Mrs. Waddles, whatever her name is, Waddlesworth, or whatever, is scandalized because obviously the lyrics to it are very salacious. And I wanted to know if that little bit came from the book because it felt like a movie addition to me. [00:34:17] Speaker B: There is a moment in the book where she gets coerced into playing the piano forte, which is another. [00:34:24] Speaker A: Sorry, not a piano. It's a pianoforte. [00:34:25] Speaker B: It's a pianoforte. Which is another mirror to Pride and Prejudice because there's a scene where Lizzie gets coerced into playing even though by her measure she's not very good. But the song that she knows in the book is Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater, which I wouldn't call a song, personally. I would call that a nursery rhyme. But I guess. [00:34:46] Speaker A: Which makes. That makes more sense as the things somebody might know how to. [00:34:49] Speaker B: Yes. And we do establish earlier in the book that she took a couple lessons as a kid but hasn't played the piano since she was 12. So I think it makes sense that she would know something like that. I don't know in what universe. The only song you know how to play on the piano is hot in here. [00:35:07] Speaker A: I guess the idea is that you, in college, just jokingly, I can play Time of your life a little bit on guitar. Green days, Time of your life. I can't. There's that kind of thing where maybe you just learned one song, like, as a joke to play at a party or something. Like, I guess I could buy that. Like, it would kind of make sense. But. [00:35:28] Speaker B: Yeah, it is. It's not unfunny. [00:35:32] Speaker A: No. [00:35:32] Speaker B: But I don't think it's as funny as the movie wants it to be. [00:35:36] Speaker A: And that part. Part of that might just be the. Like, it might be funnier with a different song today than it was. I don't know. Like, you know, it might have been funnier in 2013. [00:35:46] Speaker B: Interesting time here. That's fair. Yeah. [00:35:52] Speaker A: So then later, I think it's that same night, or. I don't remember, but she's. She's heading to bed one evening, and as she's walking through the hallway, she gets accosted by Mr. Waddles, whatever his name. I don't. [00:36:01] Speaker B: I think it's Waddlesbrook. But I kept writing, Waddlesworth Wattlesworth Wattlesbrook. [00:36:06] Speaker A: Doesn't matter. But he, like, comes upon her in the hallway and he's drunk, and he starts, like, accosting her and trying to, like, grope her, and she has to, like, fight him off. And I Was like, Jesus Christ. What? Okay, sure. And if that happened in the book. [00:36:22] Speaker B: Yeah, that is something that happens in the book. The slight difference is that in the book, Mrs. Wattlesbrook isn't playing a character at the main house. She is the owner of Austenland. And Jane does initially interact with her at that first stop where she gets her clothes. But then there's then a separate actress and actor who are playing, like, the Lord and lady of the house that they're staying at. So it's the actor who assaults her and not the owner's husb. Which is a difference that doesn't really matter. [00:36:55] Speaker A: Yeah, it's the same idea. [00:36:56] Speaker B: Yeah. Overall, I do think it made sense to combine those characters, though. [00:37:01] Speaker A: Does Jane keep her cell phone on her? And does the owner, you know, host or whatever discover that she has it and kick her out because of it? [00:37:13] Speaker B: Yeah, that all plays out exactly as it happens in the book, because they're not supposed. That's like, part of the contract that they sign is that they're not supposed to bring any modern technology in with them. And similarly, Ms. Hartright takes responsibility for the phone, and Jane ends up getting to stay. I also liked the movie's addition of Jane getting in trouble for having a cell phone. And then she goes into Ms. Charming's room right after the scene, and she has a gigantic TV in her room. [00:37:45] Speaker A: Yeah, but the rich people, they get to do whatever she wants. [00:37:47] Speaker B: Yeah, she gets to do whatever she wants because she's a platinum customer. [00:37:50] Speaker A: Yeah. So then we get to a point later, and I. This is. I just. I wrote this here because it tied back to the earlier part where it becomes clear eventually that Jane does, in fact get that Henry is playing, basically, Darcy, but also, she still seems, like, not into it. And I was so. This, again, I'm just so confused by the meta nature of this. And it feels like the movie was also confused by this. We really kind of already discussed this, but I just had to write it down again during the film because I wrote the first part where it was like, I don't know if she knows he's playing Darcy. Like, does she just not get that? And then later it becomes clear, like, oh, she's aware he's playing Darcy, but for some reason she's, like, not into it. And I'm like, what is going on? [00:38:37] Speaker B: And again, I also. I felt similarly reading the book, and I think it's an attempt to comment on, like, you thought this would be a character archetype that you would be into, that you'd Be, like, really into this guy. But then, like, when confronted with the reality of this type of person, maybe you don't like it, but then she. [00:38:57] Speaker A: But ultimately she does because she ends up with them. Yeah. [00:39:00] Speaker B: Yeah. And I. It was. It's again, one of those times where I just. It seemed like the story was a little confused by its own premise and nature. [00:39:11] Speaker A: Yeah. It just feels like a little bit like. Just like a little off. [00:39:15] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:39:16] Speaker A: I'm like. I'm not exactly sure this all works in the way that it, like, feels like it should. It's. I don't know, It's. It's good enough. Like, it's fun enough that it works. Like. Yeah. And I have a note about it. [00:39:27] Speaker B: It's definitely a thing, which I think makes it a difficult kind of property for people like us because I think it's a thing that you have to, like, not think about. [00:39:37] Speaker A: Yeah. Don't think about it too. [00:39:38] Speaker B: Don't think about it too hard, really, for that. [00:39:40] Speaker A: It's. Yeah, it's a fun, silly. Again, I have a note about that later. [00:39:43] Speaker B: But. [00:39:43] Speaker A: Yeah, so then. But then they do have a moment where they. And I didn't even understand what happened here. They, like, run off to her room together. I was like, why did they do that? [00:39:52] Speaker B: Because then she immediately is like, you have to. [00:39:54] Speaker A: Yeah, you have to leave. She's like, ha. They run to her room and then she's like, you got to get out of here. It's like, oh, what did we just do? Okay, sure, whatever. But before he leaves, he tells her, like, oh, I wanna. He, like, says some stuff to her. And then after, if she will save the first two dances for him at the ball. And I wanted to know if he asked to dance with her at the ball in the book. [00:40:14] Speaker B: Yes. He requests that she save him her first two dances. They do not run off to her room. And then she immediately dismisses him. [00:40:23] Speaker A: That was so strange. Like, you could have done that in the hall. Whatever. Sure. Okay, fine. I think it's just because they wanted the thing where he's on the other side of the door. They needed to get them to a door. And so she kicks him out. We need a door from the other side of the door. And. Yeah. Is it revealed? And we kind of answered this already that Martin's whole romance with her was. So all of that goes down. They have the ball. Martin Conf. Or not. Martin. Henry confesses his love to her, but she thinks it's all part of the act. And she runs off with Martin. They spend the Night together. And then as she's leaving the next day, it is revealed that Martin's whole romance was scripted with her. And she's like, what the heck? And I was like, I wanted to know if that was revealed in the book. And my question was like, I guess the bit where they broke. He broke character constantly. Was that also scripted? This is almost like a Lost adaptation where I was like. Because obviously, like, I get the idea of, like, oh, his romance was scripted. You're falling in love with the dashing stable boy or whatever. [00:41:24] Speaker B: It's like a forbidden romance. [00:41:26] Speaker A: Sure. I was like, that all tracks. But, like, the part where he's like, [00:41:29] Speaker B: that would be great. That would be fun. [00:41:30] Speaker A: That would make sense. I'm like, I get that for your Austin experience, but was it also part of the script that he, like, has a CD player and, like, they listen to music and, like, break character constantly and talk about modern stuff and blah, blah, blah. Was that also part of the script? Because that seems not good. Anyways. [00:41:48] Speaker B: Okay. Boy, oh, boy, do I have some thoughts on this. And so in both the book and the movie, as we said, it's revealed that her entire relationship with Martin was scripted. Yeah, because there is, like, there's a throwaway line at the end of the movie where Mrs. Waddleworth said, like, oh, I had to shut it down because it was getting too hot and heavy. [00:42:07] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:42:08] Speaker B: Because so, like, the breakup also scripted. [00:42:11] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:42:12] Speaker B: In the movie, it does seem like they do some in character stuff. Like they go in the boat and they go on a picnic. [00:42:19] Speaker A: They do some in character stuff. [00:42:20] Speaker B: But it's also apparent that they're breaking character with each other and that that's, like, the whole basis of their relationship. [00:42:26] Speaker A: The whole thing is them kind of joking about how silly this all is and, like, getting, like. Like being honest with each other. And, like, that's what creates the. The. The repartee between them. [00:42:37] Speaker B: In the book, their entire relationship is out of character. She is, like, sneaking to his living quarters at night, and they, like, watch TV together and make out. And at the end, it's revealed that literally all of this was scripted, which is, in my opinion, psychotic, Completely insane. It's a complete breach of what she was told to expect. Like, it's to go into this elaborate LARPing situation, and even if you start catching feelings, you still know that it's fake. [00:43:12] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:43:13] Speaker B: To also fake breaking character and, like, bonding with her as a person and not as part of the LARP is, yes, insane. It's crazy. That's nuts. [00:43:25] Speaker A: Yeah. That's not what you signed up for. Yes. [00:43:28] Speaker B: Yeah. And Jane is, like, upset by this revelation, but she's upset about it from the perspective of having her heart broken, whereas I think she should have been upset by the fact that this establishment toyed with her in a way that [00:43:44] Speaker A: she did not agree with her. That's not wrong with you. I, I, that's not what I signed up. [00:43:48] Speaker B: What are you doing in the book? Mrs. Wattlesbrook is like, well, we know that some of our guests will struggle with the immersive experience, so we arrange a different kind of experience for them. And like, okay, but I didn't consent to that. [00:44:02] Speaker A: And how would you know I was gonna struggle with the. What are you talking about? Like, what? [00:44:06] Speaker B: Like, it's crazy. And I understand, like, the illusion to Pride and Prejudice because Martin is. Oh, he's, what's his name? He's the soldier. Yeah, the soldier guy who ends up running off with her sister. [00:44:24] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. [00:44:25] Speaker B: His name is, like, fluttering out of my brain. So, so the idea is that he betrays her. So we have to, like, manufacture that somehow, I guess. [00:44:38] Speaker A: But the George Wickham. [00:44:40] Speaker B: Wickham. Yes, I was right. [00:44:42] Speaker A: How did I pull them? [00:44:45] Speaker B: But the, the setup of this is nuts. Yeah, it's fucking crazy. And if I were her, I would sue the absolute shit out of them. Yeah, she's breach of contract. [00:44:59] Speaker A: She threatens to sue him for the, the guy assaulting her, which. Fair enough. [00:45:02] Speaker B: Yeah, fair enough. [00:45:03] Speaker A: But also, like, and again, so I guess to my question, it is like that the movie probably implies that that was the movie. I guess fixes that a little bit by having them do more LARP stuff and then leaving it maybe vague as to whether or not the non LARP stuff was intentionally scripted or if that was Martin just kind of doing his own thing because it seems like he's kind of a fuckboy. And like, maybe he does. He took it that direction just because that's he wanted to actually, like, hook up. But you know what I mean? Like, I, I could buy in the movie that he, that most of what was scripted was, like, the, the like LARP style relationship stuff and that it was Martin kind of going off script from what. But, but also I think it might be. I would have to go back and watch again, which I won't. But, like, I don't know, during that whole final conversation where she's talking to her. But I think you could, it could be possible in the movie that all of the non larpy character breaking stuff was just Martin on His own going off script, but that the relationship with him and the actual relationship was supposed to be all in character stuff, right? Maybe, maybe, maybe. [00:46:23] Speaker B: I don't know. It's definitely not in the book. [00:46:25] Speaker A: Yes, but. And the fact that it's not in the book makes me think, well, maybe that is the case in the movie. If that's the case. Yeah. She should be like, what is. This is insane. What are we doing? Yeah. So that all goes down. She leaves very upset. Martin shows up at the airport and tries to smooth things over, but she doesn't believe anything he says. Then Henry shows up and because of like at this point she's like, I don't believe this is all fake. Fake. This is all part of the show. She just like, none of this is real. And she's like, I'm leaving and goes home. But then Henry shows up at her apartment in America to return her sketchbook and confesses his actual love to her. And I wanted to know if that's kind of how the film end or the book ended. [00:47:05] Speaker B: In the book he actually gets on the plane with her and just moves to New York City on the spot. [00:47:10] Speaker A: Oh, so he like confesses at the airport and she like believed them or. [00:47:13] Speaker B: Well, she's like, no, you're. She still thinks he's like an actor and like to prove that he's being genuine, he's like, he goes and like buys a plane ticket and like, it's like, okay, I'm gonna be on this plane with you now. [00:47:27] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:47:28] Speaker B: There's another thing that I'm kind of six of one on. I thought the scene in the book was really cute, but I appreciate what the movie is doing by having her go back by herself and like clear out some of her stuff. And then he shows up in the traditional rom com fashion, shows up on her doorstep. [00:47:44] Speaker A: Yeah. And then my last question, as we get in the the mid credits scene, it is revealed that Elizabeth, charming, Jennifer Coolidge's character, bought Austenland and turned it into like a theme park as opposed to like a LARP experience. And I wanted to know if that happened in the book. [00:47:59] Speaker B: No, this was a movie addition, I assumed to give Mrs. Wattlesbrook and company some actual comeuppance. Yeah, I thought it was fun, but not wholly necessary. [00:48:10] Speaker A: Yeah. And it's very straight. You know, it's again, it's a thing like don't think about it. Like what are we. There's like a strip show at this, like, sure, whatever. [00:48:16] Speaker B: Okay, whatever. [00:48:17] Speaker A: It's fine. It doesn't going to be who cares? All right. I did have a couple things I wanted to talk about in Lost in Adaptation. Just show me the way to get out of here and I'll be on my way. Yes, yes. [00:48:29] Speaker B: And I want to get unlost as soon as possible. [00:48:32] Speaker A: We mentioned this earlier and was that in the book? But she. She gets in troubling, like, kicked out almost for having her cell phone on her. And I was like, did I miss the reason in the movie why she hides her phone on her and keeps it? Like, because it seems she's so excited for this experience. She knows she's not supposed to have this stuff and she doesn't seem like she has any, like, super important connections or anything. You know what I mean? So I'm like, why would she risk it by keeping her phone? And I was like, did I miss, like, her friend is mentioning needing to contact her for something or. And. And eventually it's revealed that she does call her friend to, like, gossip about stuff. But I was like, I. But I guess that's. So that's why she kept it. She risked all that just so she could talk to her friend. And I didn't know if that it was expanded on in the book, like, why she kept her phone or I [00:49:18] Speaker B: think that her keeping her phone maybe makes a little more sense in the book because this isn't something she picked for herself to do. So as she's packing her trunk, she's like, I'm supposed to leave my phone behind, but I kind of don't want to. I want to still be able to check my email and stuff. So she just hides it in her trunk and the movie has to have her have it so that we can have the scene later where she gets caught with it. [00:49:48] Speaker A: Right? Yeah. In the movie. It just didn't make sense to me why she would risk that because she's so excited for this. And it's like, well, why would you even want your phone? Then it's also, again, unless there was some specific reason, like, blah, blah, blah, she had to have it because of something. But I didn't remember that being set up. So anyways, and then my other thing I just put here because I thought it like. And I alluded to this earlier about how very early on I found the whole meta nature of this kind of confusing. And like, okay, what. What does she think is real and doesn't think is real between, like, with. With Nobly and him as Darcy? And like, is she. Is she into this? Is she not into it? And I. Ultimately, when we get to the end. And the part you talked about where she gets back and she packs up, like, at the airport where they confess to her, and she's like, this. I. Like, I. I don't even know what's real anymore. This is all insane. And then goes home. And this kind of, like, breaks a little bit of the spell on her obsession with Darcy and all of the this. I was like, okay. I think this all kind of does work at the end in a very meta, like, evaluating the relationships we have with fictional worlds and characters, way that she ultimately ends up not being able to tell what is real and what is not, and that it isn't until she kind of packs up all of her Austin stuff and has a healthier, more detached, like, adult relationship with this. With these stories and with these characters, that is the point at which she can find, like, an actual. And be in an actual relationship with another person. I think that all kind of works in a way that is interesting and makes me forgive a little bit of the frustrating, confusing nature of the earlier part of the film of, like, what is going on here. [00:51:23] Speaker B: Yeah, the story is. I do think that, at least in part, it's confusing on purpose because I think Jane is also experiencing a lot of confusing and conflicting feelings. [00:51:39] Speaker A: Right. Yeah. [00:51:40] Speaker B: But it was also confusing, often confusing in a way that didn't necessarily feel purposeful, and that was a little frustrating at times. [00:51:51] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, I agree. I still think those issues in the beginning exist still. It's just that by the end, I'm like, okay, when we get to the end and she's confused and doesn't know what's real and what's not and is struggling to kind of differentiate fact from fiction. And that kind of ties into her unhealthy obsession with this artifact, you know, with this fictional universe and these fictional stories. And that being the thing that is kind of the roadblock to her ability to form meaningful connection with people, I'm like, yeah, I. I get where we end up. Makes sense, and I like it. [00:52:25] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:52:26] Speaker A: I don't know if we get there in, like, the best way possible. Like, it feels like we kind of, like, stumble our way into that. But I did like the way it ended and was like, yeah, that's kind of like. It has a message that I, like, broadly appreciated and I thought kind of was compelling. Again, this the way she just cannot figure out what's real and who's telling the truth and all of that. Again, I thought the way it asked us to evaluate our relationship to those kind of Fictional worlds I thought was fun and interesting and worth, you know, engaging with. [00:52:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:52:58] Speaker A: All right, let's find out what Katie thought was better in the book. [00:53:01] Speaker B: You like to read? Oh, yes, I love to read. What do you like to read? Everything. There's a handful of things that we haven't already talked about. When she meets Ms. Charming, Jennifer Coolidge's character, Ms. Charming informs her that she has decided to be 22 years old while she's here. She says, like, it's hold, Mrs. Wattlesbrook. And I'm telling you that I'm 22 and I didn't give up a vacation to Italy to be 50, so I'm 22. [00:53:38] Speaker A: Here you go. [00:53:40] Speaker B: I like to getting the description of Jane's wardrobe in the book. There's also an early scene where before she goes to the house where they teach her to do one of the period dances. The minuet. Yeah, that I thought was fun. The movie does have her, like, set her up as, like, an artist. She draws in the book, we get a little bit more into that. She works as a graphic designer for a magazine. Classic female lead in a rom com. They're always working for magazines. Gotta work for a magazine. That's why they don't make rom coms anymore, because there are no magazines to work at. But. So she works. [00:54:22] Speaker A: When they do make them, they'd have them. They got to be sex purge movies. It's the only way we can make rom guys problems anymore. [00:54:30] Speaker B: But. So she works as a graphic designer, and then while she's staying there, she talks to nobly about how she misses painting. And then like, a set of paints and canvases show up in her room and she, like, gets back into. Into painting while she's there. And it's really nice. Oh, I thought this movie kind of did some character assassination on Ms. Hart. Right. She ended up being kind of a silly character. [00:54:58] Speaker A: Yeah, she's very silly. [00:54:59] Speaker B: She's very sill. Ms. Charming's the silly character. I don't think we need two silly characters, personally. At the ball, on the final night that they're there, there are people who are clearly also guests that have not been staying at the house, indicating that Mrs. Wattlesbrook is running, like, multiple Regency mansions, like the one that we. [00:55:22] Speaker A: That's so funny, because I thought I had that exact thought watching the movie. I'm like, where did these other people come from at the ball? [00:55:30] Speaker B: Most of them are actors. [00:55:31] Speaker A: Yeah. I was like, they could be actors. But I also was like, maybe there are other ones. Like, she does Other bed and breakfasts or whatever that do the same thing. [00:55:38] Speaker B: It's very clearly stated in the book that there must be other manners, that she's running the same LARPing experience. [00:55:49] Speaker A: Like I said, I've had that thought in the movie. So at least kind of. [00:55:53] Speaker B: And that's kind of fun because that is how it would have been done in the Regency era that, like, oh, this household's throwing a ball. So everybody in the area shows up, up. And then one last thing here, a random moment that I actually thought Jennifer Coolidge probably could have made really funny if they had kept it in the movie. At the end of the book, when they're, like, parting ways, Ms. Charming tells Jane, completely unbidden, that her boobs are real. It's like, oh, they're real, by the way. And Jane's like. Like, oh, yeah. And she's like, people always wonder. So I thought I would just tell you. [00:56:34] Speaker A: Nice. I want to clarify. Earlier, I said 1870. I was thinking of the wrong thing. That's obviously not the regency. 1813, roughly. Or still. Still far enough removed from when pirates existed to not be a pirate, but a little bit closer, I guess, than 1870. All right, let's go ahead and find out what Katie thought was better in the movie. My life has taught me one lesson, Hugo, and not the one I thought it would. Happy endings only happen in the movies. [00:57:02] Speaker B: We were, like, 30 seconds into this movie and it was already doing a better job of convincing me that Jane had an obsession in a way, that might be a problem, because in the book, all she really does is watch the BBC show all the time. And, like, I don't know, I felt like the book, like, I. For, like, most of the way through the book, I was like, this really doesn't seem like that big of a deal. [00:57:31] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:57:31] Speaker B: I don't know. Like, we're treating this like it makes her a social pariah. [00:57:35] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:57:36] Speaker B: She just likes the miniseries. It's not that weird. [00:57:39] Speaker A: Yeah. In the movie, her. Her home is, like, absurdly. [00:57:43] Speaker B: Absurdly. She. She has. Darcy was here over her bed. [00:57:47] Speaker A: Yes. Yes. It's very like, oh, there's this person. Like, if. If another human walked in, they'd be like. [00:57:54] Speaker B: Be like, oh, this person has a problem. [00:57:56] Speaker A: Problem. Yeah. [00:57:58] Speaker B: I really liked. There's a brief little scene where Ms. Charming is smoking a pipe for some reason. And I thought that really worked well for her character. Yeah, I thought that worked really well. I thought the shooting scene was kind of fun. Even though there's really no reason for her to have been expectedly, unexpectedly good at it. [00:58:17] Speaker A: Yeah, I thought that was, like, okay, sure, like, whatever, fine. [00:58:20] Speaker B: But I thought it was kind of fun. [00:58:22] Speaker A: I did like that they're like, they're like air launching. Instead of doing, like, clay pigeons or something, they have these, like, stuffed geese that are, like, launched on an air cannon. [00:58:32] Speaker B: There's a little moment where all of the ladies are embroidering and Ms. Charming has stitched her glove to her embroidery. That I thought was fun. I also liked the scene where Ms. Charming and Jane steal some of Ms. Hartright's costumes for Jane. And like I said, I liked that they had had more of an actual friendship in the movie. They do put on a play in the book, but I thought the production level for their play in the movie was a lot of fun. [00:59:02] Speaker A: Yeah, I, I, I was wishing that scene was funnier because I liked a lot of elements of it, and I thought they actually did a pretty good job of acting like people who aren't actors putting on a bad play. Yeah, I just within that that I didn't think it was very funny. Was my issue like, oh, yeah. All right. [00:59:23] Speaker B: I thought that Jane embroidering a portrait of Ms. Charming was really cute, and she gives it to her at the end. And I thought that her threat to sue Mrs. Wattlesbrook made a lot of sense, considering that she was very nearly assaulted. [00:59:38] Speaker A: Oh, she just doesn't threaten her at all. [00:59:40] Speaker B: She tells her at the end of the book. She, she says that she works for a magazine and that she's actually working on an article, which is an empty threat because she's not a writer. She's a graphic designer. But she does work for a magazine. But I feel like the threat to Sue. [00:59:58] Speaker A: Yeah. Yes. Makes sense. Yeah, absolutely. All right, let's go ahead and talk about what the movie nailed. As I expected, practically perfect in every way. [01:00:11] Speaker B: The first stop on the way to Austenland is at Ms. Wattlebrook's Inn to get their costumes and to learn the rules. Jane does get assigned the name Miss Erstwhile. We see briefly, as they're getting ready, some fake hair, which is mentioned multiple times in the book, that they all wear, like, fake buns and curls and things. I mentioned this, but the way that Ms. Charming attempts, period, accurate conversation, is accurate to the book. Jane and Mr. Nobley's first interaction is basically Elizabeth's and Darcy's first interaction. Martin does, quote, unquote, break up with her, and they have a very similar exchange where she's like, are you breaking up with Me. And he's like, were we together? [01:00:57] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:00:58] Speaker B: There is a moment where Noblee startles Jane and they have an exchange about her being a ninja. [01:01:04] Speaker A: Yeah. He breaks character, too. [01:01:06] Speaker B: Yeah. He just does it a little better, [01:01:09] Speaker A: I think a little more subtly. [01:01:10] Speaker B: Yeah. There is a scene where they play croquet And Jane and Colonel Andrews are teasing Mr. Nobley. [01:01:18] Speaker A: This is. I just gotta mention this because there's this thing I thought in this that I think in every time, everything I've ever watched where people play croquet, mainly thinking of, like, Bridgerton or other stuff like that. Everybody sucks at croquet. And I'm not even saying I would be at croquet. Maybe I don't know the rules of croquet, but every time you see people hit the ball in it, nobody ever hits it hard enough. They hit it and it always rolls like, a foot. And you're like, that's nowhere near the wicket or whatever. You're trying to hit it. Like. I assume the point of croquet is to hit the ball through the, like, hoops or whatever, and then hit the sticker. [01:01:48] Speaker B: I think you're supposed to, like, hit the balls against the other balls. [01:01:52] Speaker A: Yeah. Or whatever. You're supposed to get them. But so many times, in all of the times I've ever seen people play croquet in, like, movies and television, it seems like they always hit the ball so softly that it never gets anywhere near what their goal is. Is. And I'm like, is that in? Anyways, it's just a little thing that bothers me. [01:02:11] Speaker B: The. The characters do put on a play, which they call a theatrical. And Jane and Nobly are paired off, which is where their romance kind of gets a little spicier. When we get to the ball, Martin is now playing a gentleman at the ball. Instead of a servant, he's playing Mr. Bentley. Mr. Nobley does confess love, and Jane turns him down because she thinks it's part of the act. And then she goes and she has a little tryst with Martin. Jane and Emelia's conversation in the carriage as they're leaving is very similar, where it's revealed that she's like. Is a repeat customer to the point that she's hired, like, an acting coach so that she can have a better time while she's there. When she's at the airport, they do call Ms. Erstwhile over the airport penns. Then Martin shows up, tries to smooth things over the line. Romances have bloomed on stonier ground. Is from the book. And then Noblee shows up still in costume to also try and woo Jane, and the two of them kind of come to blows in the airport. I also enjoyed the staff at the counter being really into the drama, the drama happening in front of them. I would have come home from work so happy. And then a couple things. And like, when Noblee is like confessing his love to her, the fact that he's confident that he actually does know Jane because she was a terrible actor in the theatrical, he's like, you can't act. So I feel pretty confident that I know you and the line has occurred to you that in fact, you are. My fantasy is also from the book. [01:03:55] Speaker A: That is a good line. [01:03:55] Speaker B: That is pretty good. [01:03:56] Speaker A: That's a very good line. [01:03:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:03:57] Speaker A: All right, we're going to talk about a few odds and ends before the final verdict. [01:04:10] Speaker B: One thing I was really happy about going into this movie. Love a tight 97 minutes. [01:04:17] Speaker A: Yes. No, it is an economical film. [01:04:20] Speaker B: I love, I love when a movie's keeping it under two hours. [01:04:24] Speaker A: Yeah. I was cracking up in the beginning and I alluded to this earlier though, that we see like this montage of her like being obsessed with Pride and Prejudice and stuff. And I'm fairly certain one of the early scenes we see is supposed to be her in high school. [01:04:37] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [01:04:38] Speaker A: But it's played by Kerry Russell and she looks exactly like 30 year old Keri Russell or whatever. 35 year old Keri Russell. And I was like, is he supposed to be in a high school? I couldn't tell what I was supposed to be getting out of it. And then. But. But then she had like pigtails. I was like, I think she was supposed to be in high school. [01:04:55] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:04:56] Speaker A: That's crazy because then we see her in like college after that. And I was like, oh, they did not do a good job making her look like a high schooler at all. Another little detail that I was cracking up at is when they arrive at the. The manor and they're like walking in and all the. The help is like lined up on the stairs. They. We get this shot where Ms. Charming is like talking about how she's into all the male servants or whatever. And we get the, this like close up pan of like their crotches as we go up. And I am like 90 sure that they had fake penises in their pants, like bulges. [01:05:33] Speaker B: I feel like that fits with. [01:05:34] Speaker A: Yeah. Not just like cod pieces. Like they had like down one leg, pant leg, like, like comically large, like phalluses. And I was like, okay, interesting. It just felt a little. [01:05:49] Speaker B: Yeah, that fits with the whole oeuvre of what we're doing here. [01:05:51] Speaker A: It felt a little blue for like what the rest of the movie is. Like. That felt a little bit like something out of like a hangover movie as opposed to like, what the. This rest of this movie is a fairly PG PG 13, you know, like light hearted rom com. And that felt, I don't know, it just felt a little much to me. [01:06:14] Speaker B: The first, like time that they're having dinner in this, after they get to the manor. Why did she spit out the potato? Did you catch, you know what I'm talking? Like, she spits out, she takes a bite and then she like spits the potato out. And I was like, why did she spit out that potato? I think I missed something there. If anyone can tell me why she spat out the potato. [01:06:37] Speaker A: I had a prediction very early on when she got the copper package and then all of the stuff started happening with Martin. I was like, I'm wondering if the copper package is actually the best package. And that was going to be part of the reveal because they know that the people who actually, like, love Austin and want to do this, that wealthy people are less likely to be like. The people who are most obsessed and are most interested in doing this are like just probably normal people who've like scraped up just enough money to be able to come. And so the bronze package actually gives you the most, like, in depth Austin experience, while the platinum package, while maybe ostensibly nicer, is not as much of like a good experience for like an Austin fan. But that doesn't really. I thought that doesn't seem to be the case. [01:07:24] Speaker B: But that would have been a fun twist. [01:07:26] Speaker A: Yeah, I kind of thought that might go that direction. It goes a completely different direction, I guess. But yeah, I thought that might have been what was going on there. I thought there was. At the airport, they. When they get into the fight at the end, Henry is yelling at Mark about like, how he's a failed actor or whatever. And he's. Because he's from New Zealand, which was very obvious. [01:07:46] Speaker B: He has a Kiwi accent. [01:07:47] Speaker A: But I guess Jane just didn't realize. [01:07:49] Speaker B: Yeah, maybe she's bad with accents. [01:07:52] Speaker A: But he makes a joke or he yells at him. You couldn't even get a job in the Hobbit. Which I thought was funny because for people who know, Jermaine Clement played Figwit in the Lord of the Rings movies. So he literally had a role, which, again, that's the joke. [01:08:07] Speaker B: But yeah, I was thinking while we were watching this. This movie was just like a little ahead of its time because I think this would have done numbers. [01:08:17] Speaker A: And like, she's saying, Jemaine Clement. It's the other one. [01:08:19] Speaker B: Oh, it's the other one. [01:08:20] Speaker A: The other one. Jermaine Clement's the other half of Flight of the Conchords. Gosh darn it. I can't remember his name now, but Brett McKenzie. That's his name. [01:08:27] Speaker B: Brett McKenzie. [01:08:28] Speaker A: Brett McKenzie plays Figwit in Laura. [01:08:32] Speaker B: I think this was just like, it came out a little too early because I think this would have done numbers in like 2021 right after the first season of Bridgerton came out. [01:08:42] Speaker A: Yeah. Because, yeah, it would have done a lot better. [01:08:44] Speaker B: It would have done a lot better. And then also, I was thinking, like, the credits scene where Ms. Charming owns Austenland literally just kind of looks like a later season of Bridgerton, where it's all like candy colors and fun anachronism to some extent. [01:08:59] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. My final note was, and I alluded to this earlier, but, like, it's a perfectly inoffensive little film. I thought. Again, I thought ultimately it got to a place that I kind of liked in message wise that was like, at least fine. And the romance part of it was fun enough at times. My biggest issue with it was that it just wasn't as funny as, like, I was hoping it would be. Like, I thought it could have been funnier. And I. Maybe it's just me. Maybe just this particular type of humor. Maybe some people find it very funny. For whatever reason, the style of humor in the film was not. Was not clicking with me in a way. Again, it wasn't like most. I didn't like, cringe at a lot of it. I just was like, nah, nah, that's fine. It just wasn't. It just kind of washed over me. I was like, all right. As always, you can do us a favor by heading over to Facebook, Instagram, Threads, bluesky, Goodreads, any of those places. Interact. We'd love to hear what you have to say about Austinland. You can also help us out by heading over to Apple, Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to our show. Drop us a five star rating, write us a nice little review that helps us out a ton. You can Support [email protected] ThisFilmIsLit. Get access to bonus content starting at the $5 a month level. And at the $15 a month level, you get access to priority recommendations where if you have something you would really like for us to talk about, you can request it, and we will work it into our schedule as soon as we possibly can. And this, in fact, was a patron request from Amanda. Amanda. Thank you, Amanda. All right, Katie, it's time for the final verdict. [01:10:22] Speaker B: Sentence fast violation. Like, oh, that's stupid. I'll be honest that I don't have super strong feelings about either the book or the movie. The book is theoretically an easy read, although I have to admit that I found it a little boring, which is interesting because it had a lot of elements that I feel like I should have enjoyed. But I remember feeling very similarly about Princess Academy, that it had a lot of elements I should have enjoyed, but overall, I thought it was kind of boring. So maybe I just don't like Shannon Hale as a storyteller all that much. One thing that the book has going for it over the movie is that we dive deeper into Jane's romantic history. Knowing about the various duds she's dated goes a long way in explaining why she gravitated to Austen in the first place and why she's sunk herself so far into the fantasy of a Mr. Darcy. On the flip side, I think that the movie does a much better job of making her obsession seem like something that's an actual problem and not just the narrative making a mountain out of a molehill because it has to in order for the story to take place. Overall, the book is more subtle. Its characters feel more realistic and less like caricatures, and Austenland itself feels more committed to historical accuracy than what we see in the movie, which is supposed to be the entire point of the place. But the movie is, in my opinion, more fun. And quite frankly, that's what I'm looking for in a frothy, fluffy little rom com. So I'm going to give this one to the movie. [01:11:58] Speaker A: All right, Katie, what's next? [01:12:00] Speaker B: Up next, we are getting into Spooky Season, and we're going to be talking About Spiral, the 2000 film based on the horror manga Uzumaki by Junji Junji Ito. [01:12:18] Speaker A: Yep, I'm going to be reading that. We have it. I haven't started it yet, but yeah, yeah, I've. I've. I'm aware of the imagery of this horror manga. I've seen images from it before. I've not read it. I didn't even know There was a 2000 film based on it because I believe more recently, like Netflix or somebody made, like, a miniseries. [01:12:34] Speaker B: Yeah, I think you're right. [01:12:35] Speaker A: Based on a lot of his, like, works or whatever. So, yeah, I'm interested to check it out and see what it's all about. I know his stuff is very kind of famous for being very compelling, interesting horror stories. So yeah, that'll be be our next episode. But in one week's time we'll be previewing Spiral Uzumaki and seeing what you all had to say about Austin Land until that time. Guys, gals, non binary pals and everybody else keep reading books, keep watching movies [01:13:02] Speaker B: and keep being awesome. [01:13:13] Speaker A: Sam.