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| Hugh » Career » Movies: The Jane Austen Book Club |
THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB
2007 • Grigg |
 DIRECTOR: Robin Swicord
WRITER(S): Robin Swicord, Joy Fowler (novel)
PRODUCER(S): Judy Lynn, John Calley, Diana Napper
RELEASE DATE September 21st, 2007 (US)
DISTRIBUTOR(S): Sony Pictures CLassics
STATUS: Completed
LOCATIONS: Los Angeles, Hollywood, Santa Clarita, California
As five women and one enigmatic man meet to discuss the works of Jane Austen, they find their love lives playing out in a 21st century version of her novels. Sylvia (Amy Brenneman) is shocked when her husband, Daniel (Jimmy Smits), leaves her after 20-plus years and three children. Jocelyn (Maria Bello), her unmarried best friend, distracts herself from her unacknowledged loneliness by breeding dogs. Prudie (Emily Blunt) is a young French teacher, in possession of a worthy husband yet distracted by persistent fantasies about sex with another man. The many-times married Bernadette (Kathy Baker) develops a yearning for one more chance at happiness. Beautiful, risk-taking Allegra (Maggie Grace), Sylvia and Daniel's lesbian daughter, has quit speaking to her lover. And Grigg (Hugh Dancy), a young science fiction fan and computer whiz, seems both horribly out of place and obliviously at ease as the only man to be invited into the book circle.
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| ADDITIONAL CAST & CHARACTERS |
• Mario Bello . . . Jocelyn
• Emily Blunt . . . Prudie
• Kevin Zegers . . . ?
• Maggie Grace . . . ?
• Amy Brenneman . . . Sylvia
• Jimmy Smits . . . Daniel |
| PREVIEWS |
     
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| PROFESSIONAL REVIEWS |
"Congratulated on our Austeniana, all that’s left to appreciate is the occasionally felicitous acting moment: Dancy demonstrating a young, horny Jack Lemmon quality."
- Armond White, New York Press
"The courtship between the strong-willed Jocelyn and the infectiously enthusiastic Grigg almost saves the movie. Both characters could be played as types -- the dog handler who needs men to 'obey,' the dot-com millionaire who likes science fiction -- but both Bello and Dancy are great actors who make the characters interesting, a little surprising and even abrasive, but ultimately very likable."
- Rob Thomas, Link
"Everyone is a delight to watch, particularly the adorable Hugh Dancy as Grigg, a sci-fi devotee who's pulled way back from the future as the only male in the group."
- Ruthe Stein, SFGate
"The cast are excellent, particularly Maria Bello, who generates intriguing chemistry with Dancy."
- Matthew Turner, View London
"On screen, Baker’s motherly warmth, Blunt’s brittle pretensions and Dancy’s puppy-dog eagerness all stand out, which lets Swicord simply throw them all together and let them talk out their issues like friends."
- Tasha Robinson, Chicago Metromix
"Still, the actors are good -- especially Bello, Blunt (who makes Prudie a heartbreak of shrill, unfulfilled dreams and desires) and Dancy. Here's an actor who, after this and 'Evening,' is making his move as one of the chick-flick genre's best supporting actors."
- Paul Nechak, Seattle Pi
"The characters come in one shade, but some of the cast, especially Blunt and Dancy, use the crayons well."
- Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
"Jocelyn finds Grigg dorky but keeps him around, ostensibly as a distraction for Sylvia. This story line extends far past plausibility, but Bello and Dancy help keep it interesting. Dancy's ebullience endears him to viewers just as Grigg's resilience eventually wins over the book group."
- Carla Meyer, SacBee
"A strong cast makes us care for the characters, with Bello, Blunt and Dancy the standouts."
- Daniel M. Kimmel, eWorchester
"Hugh Dancy shines as dashing tech-geek Grigg."
- Cole Haddon, Orlando Weekly
"As was the case in Evening, Dancy lights up the goings-on as the rooster in the hen house, an enigmatic character who manages to be gentlemanly in cycling shorts, whose affections are amusingly misread in control freak Jocelyn’s match-making miscalculations (’cause she’s the Emma figure, geddit?)."
- Angie Errigo, Empire Online
"On the opposite end of the personality scale, Dancy radiates charm as the sheepishly smitten Grigg."
- Dennis Harvey, Variety
"Hugh Dancy tends to be the film's saving grace as a sci-fi geek who stumbles onto the club and discovers Jane Austen while getting romantically entangled with the female members of the group. Essentially, his Grigg is meant to act as the guy's view into the world of Jane Austen, but it doesn't hurt that--unlike most sci-fi geeks--he's easy on the eyes, which makes it easier to believe that the women might be ga-ga over him."
- Edward Douglas, Coming Soon
"Hugh Dancy is charming as the odd-man-out Grigg, a science-fiction lover who joins the group to be close to Jocelyn (who keeps pushing him on Sylvia)."
- Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times
"Dancy unexpectedly steals the show as the lone male member of the club. He’s charming and funny in a breakout performance."
- Geoff Berkshire, Los Angeles Metromix
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ADAM
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