The young Jane Austen is determined to become a writer. But in England in the year 1795, women are expected only to marry well and be good wives. Those with education are treated with suspicion and those that work, with open hostility. Jane’s anxious parents are trying to steer her into a respectable marriage when she meets the headstrong and charming Tom LeFroy. He is a handsome and clever young Irish lawyer sent away from London to avoid any more scandalous situations.

In order to keep things moving, Jarrold uses montages and jump cutting to compress events whilst showing time passing. This is effective if somewhat hackneyed. He’s also fond of using movie shorthand to suggest changes in mood, from significant rain to threatening clouds. His treatment of the characters is somewhat sentimental and his view of romance sentimental. He doesn’t attack the concept of the creative process – though Jane may abruptly sit down and start writing, there’s no real sense of excitement about it, only a sense of inevitability. Situations tend to be dragged out, making the hundred and twenty minute running time feel overly generous. If the pacing were a little swifter, it would make the comic moments snappier and give the romance more zing. There are some issues with production values. It often feels like Jarrold isn’t using his locations and equipment to their full extent. There’s one sequence in particular where several of the characters meet years later where poor hair and make-up shatter any illusion that the young cast are twenty years older.

The characterisation feels facile because you can tell which of Austen’s protagonists each character is based on. It’s too blatant and makes it far too easy to spot who’s going to do what to whom and why. It also means you never believe in the players as anything other than fictional constructs. The dialogue is so florid you can practically see the curlicued script it is undoubtedly written in. Virtually every character has a perfectly formed pearl of wisdom or snappy retort at their disposal, making the language feel clever-clever. The film doesn’t know when to stop and the addition of a scene set some years later than the main events just drags proceedings out unnecessarily.

I really like McAvoy because he has range - appearing in a variety of different roles and genres. He has natural charisma that makes him a capable leading man and a sense of fun that lends itself to romantic comedy. He’s such a charmer he could have chemistry with furniture if required. He pulls another perfect English accent out of the bag as Tom LeFroy and brings enough attitude to convince as a cocky man-about-town that just needs the right woman. He’s got very good comic timing that works best when he’s playing the character as a preening dandy and is sufficiently disdainful as the worldly man out in the sticks.