Persuasion (2022) ***

 

In the latest iteration of Jane Austin's 1817 novel, Dakota Johnson plays Anne Elliot, middle daughter of Sir Walter, a vain, feckless man whose oldest and youngest daughters mirror his shallowness and narcissism. Anne, however, has a refined character, with a gentle soul and a love for poetry. She also has a broken heart, because, eight years earlier, she let herself be persuaded to turn away the love of her life due to his inferior social station. Frederick Wentworth (Cosmo Jarvis) was a penniless sailor with no title, considered unfit for a girl of Anne's upbringing. Anne has spent the ensuing eight years wallowing in regret. Fate brings Wentworth, now a successful Navy captain, back into Anne's life, but the two are wary of each other. They circle around each other until Anne's sweet, beautiful sister-in-law takes a shine to Wentworth, and Anne comes to believe she has missed her chance again. Just as she is ready to give up on love forever, a handsome, wealthy relative (Henry Golding) sets his sights on Anne.

If it all sounds very familiar, it's the same motif as every Jane Austin story. You take a couple of reluctant lovers who are clearly meant for each other, throw in some complications, and figure out who is going to marry whom. It would be tiresome if it weren't so damn charming! This is theater director Carrie Cracknell's first film, and she spices up Jane Austen's characteristically witty dialogue with a few fun anachronisms (“They say if you're a 5 in London, you're a 10 in Bath!”) The cast is a mixed bag. Richard E. Grant (“Withnail & I”), Yolanda Kettle, and Mia McKenna-Bruce are delightfully funny as Anne's ridiculous family, classic Jane Austen characters. Henry Golding is charming as always, but he isn't given a lot to work with. Cosmo Jarvis as Wentworth is a bit wooden and boring. At the end of the day, “Persuasion” lives and dies by the performance of Dakota Johnson, and fortunately, she is up to the task of carrying the film. You cannot look away from her, and rather than using voice-over to narrate Anne's thoughts, Johnson engages the camera directly, with words and conspiring glances, a-la Phoebe Waller-Bridge, from “Fleabag.” Some reviewers found this engagement distracting, but I think it elevates an otherwise middling Jane Austen adaptation into something really fun.

One thing you have to get used to in “Persuasion” is that several traditionally white, English characters are played by actors who are black, asian, or mixed. It's confusing at first, but then you get used to the idea that, in this film, a person's skin color is not their identity. What a remarkable concept!

3 stars out of 5