I'm a little bit OCD.....

So, I find that I am obsessing over a book/movie about a women obsessing over Jane Austen books, so much so that she uses lines from Jane Austen novels in her daily conversations.

If the Godfather is the I-Ching for men, then Jane Austen must be for women. Pretty much every situation Jane finds herself in she can come up with a Jane Austen quote.

My favorite Mr. Nobley quote (from the movie) to Martin the stableman (played by Bret MacKenzie of Flight of the Conchords fame), "You're just jealous. You're jealous because my Aunt would rather bring in a novice than move some kiwi actor up to the Big House. What's the matter? Couldn't get a job in The Hobbit?" (Bret MacKenzie was in Rivendell in The Hobbit.  He welcomes Gandalf and company in Elrond's absence.)

There are so many fun characters, but Miss Charming is one of my favorites. She is crass and is basically only there for the men. Upon speaking to Mr. Nobley on the occasion of their first meeting she asks him if she has something in her eye while simultaneously shoving his face in her rather ample bosom upon which he has the good graces to declare he doesn't see anything in the rather low light. When being told the story of George East achieving his Captain rank in the face of tragedy she exclaimed, "Did you die"?"

Some of the servants steal the show. As we meet the menservants upon Jane Hayes arrival to Austenland, they are all lined up in the outside the main door all looking like Chippendale's models. The maids on the other hand are all rather homely looking. What I love about the menservants is that at the beginning of the film they are all rather pasty looking, but by the end, they are all so tanned they look like giant Oompaloompas, especially with the white wigs.

Whether for the setting, the Austen subplots, the supporting cast or the Regency Hottie, a Jane Austen immersion is a fresh new look on age old stories. If an Austenesque comedy is what you seek, then this is the film to see. I loved it and cannot get enough of it.

Welcome to Austenland!