Paging Mr. Darcy

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I rated this low for one reason only - I hate the sister (the character). She is immature, self-absorbed, selfish, and extremely annoying. Unfortunately, the actress went over the top in accentuating the character's very negative characteristics. When the sister was onscreen, she took the attention away from the other actors? Including the excellent Will Kemp & Mallory Jansen. Like all narcissists, the sister sucks the air out of the room. We see enough of that in the real world, in a movie I'd prefer a little more subtlety. The story line, the scenes between the two main actors are engaging & interesting. Will Kemp can mix a sense of regalness (ftom his dance training) with a command of both comedy & drama. There was real chemistry between him & Mallory Jansen.

Though Will Kemp might not fit the role of Jane Austen's Fitzwilliam Darcy as well as Colin Firth or Matthew Macfadyen, he certainly fits the role of Sam Lee to a tee, a shy, financially independent nerd who turns into the Jane Austen Lovers of America (JALA) Conference's Darcy once a year---well done! Mallory Jansen's transformation from a pompous Ph. D. who looks down on people like Sam Lee who attend JALA-type gatherings to someone who, in the end, could enjoy dancing in a batiste evening dress with the JALA crowd seems to have been too abrupt. (I know character transformations can be tricky, so this is not entirely her fault.) Her Doctor Eloise Cavendish (emphasis on the "Doctor") reminds me of Anna Chancellor's villainous Caroline Bingley (in the 1995 Pride and Prejudice miniseries).

This movie is borderline for me. I think that is mostly because of Will Kemp and Mallory Jansen. They had decent chemistry and watching them together was about the only good thing in the movie. Lillian Doucet-Roche was only irritating as Mia. The movie is filled with cliches like all the women going gaga at Sam. But also many of the usual formula tropes. Seriously? Eloise could suddenly cook just so the writer could put her and Sam together. Another common trope is one of the leads helping the other overcome her neurosis. Acting was mixed with some of the supporting cast being questionable. There was some decent dialogue.