海角大神

鈥淚聽am not living in the right century,鈥� bemoans Agathe Robinson (Camille Rutherford), the heroine of the eccentrically entertaining French romantic comedy 鈥淛ane Austen Wrecked My Life鈥� (鈥淛ane Austen a g芒ch茅 ma vie鈥�). Feisty, single, and prone to melancholy, Agathe works in Paris鈥� legendary Shakespeare and Company bookstore. Austen鈥檚 novels have spoiled her. Disdaining dating apps and all the other paraphernalia of modern courtship rites, she lives with her sister and 6-year-old nephew and fiddles with writing a novel.

There have been so many Jane Austen-derived movies, including updated ones like 鈥淏ridget Jones鈥檚 Diary鈥� and 鈥淐lueless,鈥� that initially I was wary of this one. The tendency to overdose on literary preciousness is ever present. But first-time writer-director Laura Piani doesn鈥檛 push the Austen parallels. And the twist here 鈥� Agathe is more of an Austen idolater than an Austen protagonist 鈥� is fresh. A Frenchwoman who writes in English, Agathe may compare herself to the independent but lonely Anne Elliot of 鈥淧ersuasion,鈥� but she鈥檚 no facsimile. Her spirit and her woes are all her own.

Does Agathe take her writing seriously? She reluctantly takes a composition class, where the teacher chastises her romantic prose for not being more in touch with the times.聽

Soon after, she finds herself at a restaurant fantasizing about the server, and the fantasy becomes grist for a more 鈥減ersonal鈥� literary effort. She is reticent to go public with it, but, unbeknownst to her, Agathe鈥檚 flirty co-worker F茅lix (Pablo Pauly) enters an excerpt in a competition dedicated to Austen鈥檚 legacy. The winning payoff: a two-week residency in a gorgeous English countryside manor alongside other budding authors. The expectation is the surrounding bliss will inspire her.

But bliss isn鈥檛 exactly what Agathe requires to feed her muse. Neither is the presence of Oliver (Charlie Anson), a college literature instructor who lives on the estate with his parents. He is, I suppose, the Mr. Darcy of the piece. Except Oliver, a distant relative of Austen鈥檚, thinks Austen is 鈥渙verrated.鈥� Agathe is aghast. She informs Oliver that Austen鈥檚 books are a part of her life.

The Agathe-Oliver contretemps isn鈥檛 very scintillating at first. Anson seems to be doing a stammering Hugh Grant impression, and, anyway, we can see where all this is heading. Despite Agathe鈥檚 half-hearted crush on F茅lix, who is part rou茅 and part soulmate, it is Oliver with whom she ultimately experiences the requisite inexplicable spark.

What rescues the movie from being mere flimsy fun is Rutherford鈥檚 performance. She gives Agathe鈥檚 waywardness a gravity, a hint of darkness. A parental tragedy in Agathe鈥檚 past is supposed to explain some of this, but we don鈥檛 really need this backstory. Her sadness seems more existential. She sees her life passing her by. When she is by herself, she shimmies to pop songs, but around other people she often holds herself in. Rutherford makes Agathe appear at once聽hypervigilant and flummoxed, and perhaps this is the truest Austen touch in聽the movie. It recalls so many of her heroines.

We can understand, even if others don鈥檛, why the gorgeous countryside does not inspire Agathe. A storm-tossed seaside, as it turns out, is more her style. Oliver comes to recognize this about her. It鈥檚 what ultimately bonds them. To fulfill herself as a writer, he tells her to 鈥渓ook for your ruins.鈥�

We never really find out what kind of writer Agathe is, and we have to take it on faith that she鈥檚 gifted. It鈥檚 not much of a stretch. She thinks she suffers from impostor syndrome. She exclaims, 鈥淚 am a genuine impostor.鈥� But there probably isn鈥檛 a single good writer who hasn鈥檛 at times felt this way. And the ones who haven鈥檛 probably are 颈尘辫辞蝉迟辞谤蝉.听

In any case, Agathe鈥檚 victory here is finally more than literary. She states early in the film that reading Austen 鈥渞eminds me that I鈥檓 only human.鈥� She starts out believing that only literature can straighten the disorder of her life and ends up embracing its glorious disarray.

Peter Rainer is the Monitor鈥檚 film critic.聽鈥淛ane Austen Wrecked My Life鈥� is rated R for language, some sexual content, and nudity. The film is in English and French, with English subtitles.