One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Northanger Abbey (2007 TV Movie) is a BBC film directed by Jon Jones. The movie is based on Jane Austen's novel, which was written when she was young, and never published in her lifetime. The brilliant Andrew Davies wrote the screenplay.Because Northanger Abbey was written by Jane Austen, we can reasonably assume that it will be about men seeking wives, and women seeking husbands. In the early 19th Century, men had options, but women didn't. The situation was made worse by the fact the even rich men wanted to marry women of wealth. That meant that poor women might have to marry men they didn't love, or not get married at all. It's hard to say whether Jane Austen realized the injustice of the social system, or whether she just took it for granted. After all, that was the reality of everything she saw around her.There's a theme in the novel that reminded me of Don Quixote, written 200 years earlier. Don Quixote reads too many chivalric romances, and eventually believes that he's a character in one of those romances. Similarly, Catherine Morland (Felicity Jones), reads so many Gothic novels that she begins to believe that she's living in one. That's especially true when she is invited to Northanger Abbey, a huge, dark structure presided over by the harsh General Tilney (Liam Cunningham). Cunningham captures what I think was Jane Austen's concept of the man. General Tilney does something that goes far beyond impoliteness. We don't doubt for a minute that he would do it.Catherine is in love with her soulmate Henry Tilney, played by JJ Feild. (He's the Genera's son.) The course of true love never did run smooth, and Northanger Abbey is no exception. It's a Jane Austen novel, so you know the outcome. It's the way Austen--and director Jones--bring us from start to end that makes the movie worth seeing.I truly enjoyed this film, even though Northanger Abbey is one of Austen's less admired works. Jane Austen was a genius, and even her lesser novels are worth reading and watching in a movie.Felicity Jones is beautiful, JJ Feild is handsome, and it's a BBC production. If you love Jane Austen, you'll love this film. If you don't care much for Austen, I'd still recommend this movie.Because this film was made for TV, it works well on the small screen.

Catherine Morland (Felicity Jones) is one of ten children in a middle class family. She is a girl with an imagination for Gothic romances. She journeys to Bath with wealthy family friends, the Allens. She falls for Henry Tilney but he's gone the next day. She is befriended by social butterfly Isabella Thorpe (Carey Mulligan) who likes her older brother James. Isabella's brother and James' friend John is taken with Catherine. Henry returns with his sister Eleanor who invites her to a walk. James lies to her about the Tilneys and sweeps her off on his carriage. She catches James on his lie but he warns her about the Tilney family. She patches up with Henry and then his older brother Captain Frederick Tilney is taken with her. Her imagination and constant rumors lead to her belief that Henry's father was responsible for the mother's death.This Jane Austen work is enlivened by two rising superstars. It's Austen's first published work turning the Gothic romance upside down. If anything, Felicity Jones is too much of a starlet to be plain Catherine Morland. Carey Mulligan's superior light compensates for some of it. It's a simple story and a nice watch even for non-costume fans.

I didn't think much of ITV's Persuasion or Mansfield Park, but I really liked their adaptation of Northanger Abbey, much more so than the 1980s adaptation. I did think though that the scene between Isabella and Frederick towards the end was rather jarring with the period, and the ending was rushed and abrupt.On the other hand, as you would expect with a period piece, it does look absolutely beautiful, I'd say especially in the scenery it was the best looking of the 2007 ITV adaptations of Jane Austen's wonderful books. The music has a pleasant lilt to it with a soothing quality to it. The story moves quickly with some decent dream sequences, if a little rushed at the end and maintains the book's spirit, and the dialogue is mostly in keeping with Jane Austen's style while also being fresh and funny.The superb cast are also to be commended. Felicity Jones plays her role of Catherine Morland with wide-eyed innocence, naivety and above all charm, and JJ Field is equally wonderful and just as charming as Henry, the fact he is very like how Austen describes Henry in the book is a good if not always important advantage. In support, Catherine Walker's dignified turn stands out, and Geraldine James as the voice of Jane Austen is suitably understated and Carey Mulligan is a surprisingly subtle Isabella.General Tilney mayn't quite have the depth of his novelistic counterpart, making him one-dimensional at times, but Liam Cunningham does do what he can to make the character interesting at least. Speaking of the characters, of the adaptations of Northanger Abbey, Persuasion and Mansfield Park, this was the only one where I actually did care for any of the characters, the characters in the other two were either underdeveloped or unconvincingly played.Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this Northanger Abbey. Considering the disappointments that were Persuasion and especially Mansfield Park I was not expecting to say or think that. 7.5/10 Bethany Cox

This is a really lovely TV/film version of this book, and of course... the script is by master adapter Andrew Davies. He is just magnificent. Carey Mulligen (Bleak House, The Amazing Mrs. Prichard) is a young actress who really understands period drama, and can bring her full self to it without seeming modern. She is excellently cast as the "bad" friend of the lead. Catherine Walker gives us an excellent interpretation of the "good" friend, and JJ Field gives us the most charming Henry Tilney. He is handsome and smart and fun and good. (The stuff of a girl's dreams, as he is supposed to be.) Despite the short running time length, everything is here that needs to be here, and the costumes in this are gloriously beautiful, and tell us a lot about the character. We have only to look at the neckline of Isabella & Eleanor's dresses to know all we need to know about them. Felicity Jones as our lead Catherine is just perfect... all the right notes. I did enjoy the version done in the 1980s?... even though the fantasy sections were very modern pop-punk with music by "art of noise." It worked... but this current one will be much more enjoyed by the purists. ENJOY this masterful adaptation!