"Modern Persuasion" review: Alicia Witt's appealing presence powers half-hearted Jane Austen update
This article originally appeared on Variety. Back in 1995, in the midst of cinema's brief fixation with Jane Austen, director Roger Michell made the definitive film of "Persuasion": as literate and elegant as it was underestimated upon release. That same year, Amy Heckerling set the bar for modernized Austen adaptations with her lithely funny and era-defining "Emma" riff "Clueless." A quarter-century later, the straightforwardly titled "Modern Persuasion" falls some way short of either benchmark. Refashioning Austen's bittersweet final novel about love surmounting prickly English class politi...
Source: salon.com