Customer Reviews

Lost in Austen

5 star:		(180)
4 star:		(63)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(29)

 

 

I first started hearing about this at a favorite fanfiction sight. I ended up buying a Region 2 DVD from England and buying a multi-region DVD player just to satiate my curiousity. I WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED. The premise of modern day Pride&Prejudice fanatic, Amanda, finding herself swapping places with Elizabeth Bennet is right out of a sci-fi, paranormal flick-- but once the story gets rolling in Regency England, the pace is fast and one better not blink! The quick, cheeky conversations, and the twists & turns far flung from Jane Austen's original are entertaining and LOL funny. Elliot Cowen as Mr Darcy is outstanding. I think Jane Austen herself would have cast him! He had just the right amount of haughtiness, pride, arrogance, distain and finally tenderness. He gave me chills when he gave Amanda a proper set down at Netherfield; so believable. The escape from Austen's usual canon was surprisingly refreshing and the play with characters was delightful. If you are expecting Austen's masterpiece P&P, this is not it. However, my Austenite sensibilities were not in anyway offended by this blatant & somewhat contrived story. Not wanting to give anymore away, let's just say that the entire ensemble was perfectly cast. It is all done in good humour and very tongue-in-cheek. But I must admit, that had I been in Amanda's shoes, I am certain I would have behaved better! And yes, I'll probably pre-order the Region 1 DVD, too!

I heard about this show and watched it online (sidereel.com) expecting to hate it, but I must admit that it sucked me in and forced me to watch it! Was it the handsome Elliot Cowan sizzling around as Darcy, the spunky if misguided heroine, or the unpredictable plot twists caused by a modern Austen fan bumbling through the world she'd only dreamed of? I can't be sure, but I have to say that I couldn't wait to see where the story would go next. Is it ridiculous? Absolutely. Will you feel foolish trying to describe it to your seriously literary friends? Believe it. Will you be embarrassingly hooked on it and want to see it again? Maybe. Whenever I engaged my brain I felt like I was watching some pretty crazy fan fiction, but nonetheless watch it I did. While some may find it a hack job that butchers their favorite book, it seemed to me more of a musing on the idea of what would it REALLY be like to be in this world so many of us like to read about. I will admit I wasn't crazy about the ending, but I don't want to put up a spoiler. So my final analysis is that I didn't really admire it but I did enjoy watching it. UPDATE: I ordered the dvd from Amazon and am pleased with my purchase. I did find the dvd at a local bookstore, but the price was double Amazon's, so I recommend getting it here, folks. The dvd contained two extras: an interesting "making of" feature and a trailer. I did notice that the dvd version was edited differently than the version I saw on sidereel, namely the loss of a scene where the heroine sings the 60's pop song "Downtown." That was a bummer. I can't say what else may be different, but apparently this version isn't exactly the same as what was broadcast in the UK. That being said, it's a good buy for a fun movie that comes in at about 3 hours, so that's two movie nights at my house! (The dvd version is not separated into episodes.)And the movie looks much lovelier on my tv than it did on my little computer screen. The colors and sets are very nice, and Elliot Cowan is a very handsome Darcy indeed!

I watched this on Oxygen, and it is delightfully done and thought provoking. The tired-of-her-modern-world protagonist yearns for the world of Jane Austen, when she inadvertently goes through a portal in her bathroom to find herself not only back in time, but in the imaginary world of Pride and Prejudice. This is a wonderful addition to anyone hungry for more Austenmania.

Elliot Cowan is giving Colin a run for his money!!! This series is a look at what it would be like if a modern-day Austen-ite were to live the fantasy. It's hilarious and sweet, my husband actually watched the entire 4 episodes with me (it was broadcast as 4 parts on Ovation). We both thoroughly enjoyed it! I am even spending the extra coin to buy my own copy. Did I mention how HOT Elliot Cowan is in this? Thanks for the wet t-shirt scene, it is now burned into my mind! LOL

I love this movie and watched it in Ireland in March. I bought the North American DVD and just watched it to discover that the scene of Amanda singing "Downtown" has been cut from this version. Does anyone know why? The deletion of this scene means the comments of Darcy and Bingham make no sense.

With the recent renditions of the Jane Austen novels for BBC like Chinese food, I find I was briefly satisfied but now I am hungry for more. More Jane Austen!...So imagine my delight when I stumbled across this new ITV production "Lost in Austen"....

What!? Time travel mixed with Jane Austen? Pass me my salts and loosen my stays!
Being released soon on DVD....Pre-Order from Amazon!? Yes! Yes! Must. Have. NOW! WANT!

"Amanda Price is sick of the modern world. She yearns for the romance and elegance found in the books by her favorite author, Jane Austen. But she's about to get a rude awakening as one fateful evening, she is propelled into the scheming 19th century world of Pride and Prejudice while that book's Elizabeth Bennet is hurled into hers. As the book's familiar plot unfolds, Amanda triggers new romantic twists and turns within the Bennet family circle as she clumsily tries to help the sisters nab husbands and even captivates the tantalizing Mr. Darcy herself. But what about Elizabeth...and what will become of one of the world's greatest love stories?"

Of course my favourite rendition of Pride & Prejudice is the Colin Firth BBC-1, A&E version...But to be lost in the novel? And really, Ladies? Who does not want to see Darcy again in a wet shirt?

So, whether tis good or tripe....I shall order this and with the eager delight of a guilty pleasure watch a modern girl enter the pages of a beloved novel..and yes, kisses ....ardently so...with Mr. Darcy!

UPDATE~!! i got the DVD today! gosh i love Amazon! And yes dears it was delightful! Fun, frolicking, and yes, very entertaining!! I want to watch it again even! ..There was one point I was thinking "how in the world is this going to END?!" and I love it when a story takes me to places where i can't easily predict the ending and am happily surprised by it!...and I was! I'm such a wus...I cried. Gah!

Imagine that once upon a time in the early 21st century, a devout "Pride and Prejudice" fanatic and unintentional time traveler named Amanda Price wandered through the door behind her Hammersmith bathtub and switched places with Elizabeth Bennet, only to discover that most of the romantic principals in Austen's story were set on hooking themselves up with the wrong people.

Imagine, too, that while trying to fix this muddled mess, she inadvertently drove Bingley to drink, found herself engaged to Mr. Collins and just in the nick of time discovered a savior and ally in one of Austen's most despicable villains. Toss in assorted other wild and crazy contrivances, throw in a new variation on the famous Colin Firth wet shirt scene, cast the whole thing well nigh perfectly--with special kudos for Jemima Rooper as Amanda, Tom Riley as Wickham, Lindsay Duncan as Lady Catherine, and Alex Kingston and Hugh Bonneville as the best pair of Bennet parents ever!--and wow! What fun!

Warning: This wonderfully well imagined, over-the-top variation on one of literature's great classics should not under any circumstances be critically compared with or considered a valid substitute for genuine Austen. But for everyone who's ever fantasized about going back in time and grabbing Darcy for herself (which pretty much means all of us, right?) this is three hours not to be missed! A big bravo to writer Guy Andrews!

Sidenote: The Internet Movie Database[...] is showing yet another "Lost in Austen" as "in development" for 2011.

I was looking forward to this Austen adventure. It sounded like a lot of fun, a girl from modern times switching places with Elizabeth Bennett. It was fun seeing Austen's world through the eyes of a "modern" girl. However, I thought they made Amanda a little too modern. I didn't care for her personiality or her bluntness. I thought she was a little to brash and could not see why any of the leading men (Mr. Bingley, Mr. Whickham and Mr. Darcy) would fall for her. I was disappointed in the changes made to certain characters, I didn't mind plot changes (which would happen if someone interferred the way Amanda did), but I was sad that some of the characters personalities were totally altered. Still trying to figure out how Mr. Whickham ends up being a good guy and Mr. Darcy the jerk? Georgiana and Caroline had massive character changes and Mr. Bingley is kind of a creep. I think Jane Austen would be disappointed in the changes that were made.

The series "Lost in Austen" is fantastic. This DVD is not. The editors cut out about half of the material. If you didn't see the original, you don't know that the reason that Charles says he would go downtown when he's lonely is that Amanda sang Petula Clark's "Downtown". It also makes no sense for Mrs. Bennet to say that Amanda is a bad influence on Lydia, unless you had witnessed the (cut) scenes where Amanda makes comments that Lydia uses later.
It is a shame that the whole series is not on the DVD. It really was a great production.

Concur with other reviews that the main character Amanda is rather crude (some unnecessary references with Lydia and Caroline Bingley) and should have tried to fit in more with Regency life since she was so enamored of "Pride & Prejudice". And no real explanation was given for why Lizzy was gone so long, especially abandoning Jane in her time of trial. But I found myself intrigued by the differences of the characters and kept watching to see how it would turn out. I almost thought Amanda would end up with Wickham (the not so bad guy) and of course, assumed Elizabeth would end up with Darcy so the end was kind of strange. But I admit to the guilty pleasure of enjoying the interpretation. I think it could have been better, with less crudity, more attempts by Amanda to really fit in, and a more "Austen like" ending, but it was fun nevertheless.