Regency Romance: Mr. Malcolm’s List & Persuasion

If you need your annual dose of men in top hats and breeches and ladies in empire-waisted dresses and bonnets, never fear. There are two charming movies out to clamor for your attention. Take a sip of tea and keep reading.

Mr. Malcolm’s List: Directed by Emma Holly Jones and written by Suzanne Allain (based on her novel of the same name), this is a movie about Mr. Jeremiah Malcolm (Sope Dirisu), who is in search of a wife, but has a list of qualifications that are exceedingly difficult to meet. When he jilts Julia (Zawe Ashton), she decides to take revenge on him by enlisting her friend, Selina (Freida Pinto), to charm him by faking all the traits on this list. If you have no idea where this story is going, you obviously are not the target demographic for this movie.

I love the recent trend of color-blind casting in British films. There are very few white actors in this movie, and yet no one seems out of place at all. Instead we get this charming tale that is brimming with Pride & Prejudice vibes and is in the hands of some very delightful and capable actors. I was never surprised watching the film, but I was thoroughly delighted - you know what you’re getting, but what you’re getting is such a treat.

The costumes are gorgeous, the production design is lovely, the cinematography makes you want to swoon at every turn. And our heroine is intelligent and fiercely independent and capable. There are misunderstandings galore, many letters will be written with inky quills, some romance will brew over a game of croquet, and at the end, everyone will be coupled up and ready for their happily ever after. What more could you ever want?

Persuasion: The trailer for this movie stirred up a lot of controversy but I was thoroughly charmed. And the movie has subsequently angered many Austen fans who think it is too modern and awful and would make Jane roll over in her grave. However, I thought it was a perfectly fun romp and shall defend it from all the haters. 

I am not a Persuasion devotee, which probably helps. The last complete novel that Austen published, it is much more melancholy and is not what you would expect from her if the only thing you knew was Pride & Prejudice. As such, I have always found Anne Elliot, the heroine, a bit insipid and dull. What this movie attempts to do, however, is revamp that character into Elizabeth Bennet. So for someone like me, this is a win-win, an Austen adaptation of a novel that isn’t my favorite but that now makes it more like my favorite. But of course, if you ARE a fan of the novel, I can see why you’d be mad.

Dakota Johnson plays Anne and throughout the film she talks directly to camera. Which is useful as so much of this novel is just Anne’s internal monologue about her failed romance with Captain Wentworth (played by a suitably handsome but not particularly devastating Cosmo Jarvis). Her father, the vain Mr. Elliot, is played with relish by Richard E. Grant and as the movie progresses, you’ll meet a whole host of characters linked to Anne and her sisters. Again, there’s some great color-blind casting in the supporting cast, even though the main cast is very white, and it’s fun to see a number of men suddenly vying for Anne’s attention. There’s a pivotal scene involving a letter (it's Austen, of course there's an important letter), and I had quite forgotten about it until it happened and it still packed as much of a punch as it does when you read it for the first time and realize that things are going to work out for our hapless lovers.

Overall, this is a charming Netflix movie and I don’t think it merits the vitriol I’ve seen slung at it. It’s a modern take on the always problematic Regency trope of women who must be married to unburden their families and it manages to be funny and romantic and entertaining. It’s definitely not suitable for purists, but if you love a feisty heroine, you’ll get what you seek.