I have never read a Jane Austen novel; my life-long reading interests veer in a different direction. I'm reading "Aghora ll: Kundalini" by Robert E. Svoboda right now. I do not know why Jane Austen's six novels are considered great literature. I was curious, but seeing "Becoming Jane" has not prompted me to rush out and buy any of her classics.

I do know everyone who reads Austen loves her. So whether or not this movie is enjoyable is beyond the point. Austen has an enormous fan base.

The research I did on Austen indicates that a few sentences she wrote to her sister Cassandra about "flirting" with Tom Lefroy are the basis for "Becoming Jane." In one letter she wrote:

"Friday. At length the day is come on which I am to flirt my last with C, and when you receive this it will be over. My tears flow as I write at the melancholy idea."

"Flirt" is a rather sexy word for what Jane actually did, according to "Becoming Jane." A glance and a half-smile were "hooking up" back then. Reputations could be lost if a woman spoke to a man not her relative without the appropriate escort.

SPOILER ALERT BELOW.

Jane (Anne Hathaway) is the youngest daughter of Rev. Austen (James Cromwell) and his wife (Julie Walters). Her parents are poor but in a rather good social position. Jane is outspoken and encouraged to write her little stories. When her older sister Cassandra (Anna Maxwell Martin) becomes engaged and her fiancé sent abroad for military service, Jane's mother welcomes the advances of Mr. Wisley (Laurence Fox) towards her daughter. Mr. Wisely is the nephew and heir of sourpuss Lady Gresham (Maggie Smith), a rich landowner. But Jane is not interested in Mr. Wisley – he's got a weak chin – and doesn't care that her parents will be lifted out of farm work drudgery and poverty if she marries him.

Jane insists on "affection."

It is rakish Irishman Tom Lefroy (James McAvoy), a poor nephew who is being financially supported and groomed as a gentleman lawyer by his wealthy uncle, Judge Langlois (Ian Richardson), who enchants Jane. The Judge sends Lefroy to country relatives because of his brawling and, perhaps, womanizing. He's gotten a ribald reputation that immediately captivates Jane.

They don't get along at first but that only excites their "affection" for each other. Dismissing Mr. Wisley's marriage proposal, to the shock of her parents and Lady Gresham, Jane goes off to visit Lefroy with her relatives as chaperones. Judge Langlois does not find Jane an appropriate wife for Lefroy. She's too opinionated and gossiped about.
Back home and disgraced, Jane begrudgingly agrees to marry wimpy, but wealthy, Mr. Wisley. Lefroy becomes engaged to someone else.

SPOILER AHEAD, BUT NECESSARY.

Lefroy comes to the country to explain to Jane his engagement but, in a passionate embrace, they decide to run off together, leaving fortunes, careers, and families behind. Jane does not care what this will do to her family. Penniless Lefroy will surely be disowned. Jane's mother will have to continue digging for potatoes.

On the road to love, Jane finds out that if Lefroy runs off the big family he supports will suffer. She can't do that to a group of people she doesn't know! She cares too much for their support and tells Lefroy they cannot marry. He has a responsibility to his many siblings who rely on a share of his allowance.

Jane never married and neither did her sister (they called them "spinsters" back then). She wrote her novels and became world famous and perhaps, it has been suggested, she created her most memorable character, Mr. Darcy in "Pride and Prejudice," around Lefroy.

Hathaway does very nice, mature work here and has real chemistry with James McAvoy, last seen in "The Last King of Scotland." He's sexier and stronger as Lefroy and this is a much better showcase for his talents. However, the film does drag and is slow. I found the explanation for why Jane gave up Lefroy to be an improbable fable made up by the screenwriters.

I still do not know the real Jane Austen. If she had been lived through this story perhaps it would have been the signpost to her novels about class distinction and women's roles in society. The true Jane Austen never emerges, but a Jane Austen heroine does.

(We at zboneman.com are excited to welcome the prolific and multi-talented writer Victoria Alexander to our staff. Critic for http://www.filmsinreview.com/ and pundit and humorist responsible for the candid and fearlessly funny "The Devil's Hammer," her column appears every Monday on http://fromthebalcony.com. Start off your week with a good hard laugh. It's a thrill to have her on board. Victoria Alexander answers every email and can be contacted directly at .)