Dakota Johnson delivers in Netflix’s controversial Austen adaptation
Persuasion (PG, 109 mins) Directed by Carrie Cracknell Reviewed by James Croot ★★★1⁄2
It’s Austen meets Waller-Bridge in this retooling of the former’s last completed novel. Dakota Johnson’s Anne Elliot confesses her innermost thoughts directly to the audience in an adaptation that owes as much to Fleabag as past Austen adaptations.
In truth though, it’s simply a natural progression of Austeninspired movies designed to speak to modern audiences, without abandoning the central conceits – or corsetry.
Johnson’s Anne shares the same disdain, occasional callousness, but inherent goodness that marked out Kate Beckinsale’s Lady Susan Vernon (in 2016’s Love and Friendship) and Anya Taylor-Joy’s 2019 take on Emma.
It has been eight years since she was persuaded to break Frederick Wentworth’s (Cosmo Jarvis) heart. He was the only person who ever really saw or understood her, yet his prospects were not sufficient (‘‘he was a sailor without rank – or future,’’ she informs us) for her to be allowed to follow her feelings.
That has proved to be a disastrous mistake and one she still deeply regrets. While he has earned his fortune and risen through the naval ranks, Anne has watched her family finances crumble.
Her vain father Sir Walter (Richard E Grant playing a man who has ‘‘never met a reflective surface he didn’t like’’) has frittered away their cash on trinkets and fine wines, to the point that Anne’s late mother’s best friend Lady Russell (Nikki Amuka-Bird) has stepped in to save the day with a vigorous plan of economy – before Sir Walter’s arrogance ‘‘bankrupts them all’’. That includes a shift away from their beloved Kellynch Hall to Bath. Delaying her own relocation for as long as possible, it’s while staying with her feckless and self-obsessed sister Mary (Mia McKenna-Bruce) that Anne encounters the hall’s new tenants – the Crofts – and a familiar face in the form of the now Captain Wentworth.
While events initially conspire to keep them apart, Anne is heartened and saddened to learn that he has come ashore with marriage very much on his mind.
‘‘I fear Wentworth is a ship that has already sailed,’’ she says. But has she mistaken his aloofness for a repression of his true intentions and feelings?
While some may bridle at screenwriting duo veteran Ron Bass (My Best Friend’s Wedding, What Dreams May Come) and newcomer Alice Victoria Winslow’s rather oversimplification of Austen’s far richer and more nuanced 1817 novel, don’t let the naysayers persuade you that this is without redeeming qualities.
Jarvis (Lady Macbeth) may not quite have the smouldering power of Firth-level D’Arcy, but there’s a believability about his guardedness that endears.
Likewise, Last Christmas and Crazy Rich Asians’ star Henry Golding is bursting with caddish charm as the gregarious William Elliot, a man who potentially represents a different future for Anne.
However, the stage really belongs to Johnson and, for the third time in a year (after terrific turns in The Lost Daughter and Cha Cha Real Smooth), she proves how many shades she really has.
Like Beckinsale, she has been written off by some because of her sometimes pulp-movie past, but here she makes for a witty guide, sometimes adroit observer and believably torn protagonist.
Best known for her work with Britain’s National Theatre, director Carrie Cracknell ensures the pace never drags, the longing is palpable and the dialogue, even if sometimes a little less than stellar, still resonates (‘‘life keeps going, whether you approve of the progression or not,’’ as Anne says).
While pride – and prejudice – may dissuade many from getting lost in this Austen, I’m hoping I’ve persuaded you to see sense and enjoy this interesting take’s unique sensibilities.
Persuasion is now available to stream on Netflix.