Disappointment for a huge fan!

Best movie ever!

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

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.

For example poor Catherine, when she is kicked out of Northanger Abbey for not being wealthy enough, is depicted as being squeezed between a motley crew of passengers on the common coach. In the novel she is able to travel post.It is wonderful to see Jane Austen's characters come to life in this movie: Mrs. Allen who talks of nothing but wardrobe. Mr. John Thorpe, coarse, but first and foremost a liar. Isabella Thorpe, duplicitous and manic. Lacking merit, she portrays herself as having it. Mr. Tilney, mildly humorous. Catherine, an affectionate nature, a bit silly, loyal. General Tilney, a materialistic status seeker, also a hypocrite, who has learned superficially what is expected of a charming man, and in his efforts to appear so never expresses any true emotion. Who is a roiling, boiling stew of anger and irritation underneath the surface. He always seems to be expressing the opposite of what he feels. Since he sees his true feelings as being socially unacceptable, the characters are always relieved when he goes away.By showing Isabella Thorpe in bed with Captain Tilney, leaving her ruined, the movie goes beyond what Jane Austen wrote.This movie shows John Thorpe telling General Tilney of Catherine Morland's wealthy expectations. This is the act of someone who when he feels positively about something or someone, will make up a series of positive and complimentary lies or when disappointed as he was by Catherine's rejection of his attentions, will then make up a series of negative, uncomplimentary lies. He doesn't really lie like Isabella and General Tilney do, because their true feelings are not socially acceptable. He lies because he doesn't know the difference between the truth and his own fantasies or because the truth stands in the way of him getting what he wants.This movie has a vibrancy that makes it a little exciting, even though Jane Austen's writings are not really exciting.

I did not watch this completely. I could not bear it. Everything was wrong.At first I thought: Interesting take on Henry Tilney, make him a little more ...glib, I think, fits.But then I found it false and implausible - bad acting did not help.Mrs Allen is too sweet. Missed the chance for authentic portrayal - she is a superficial, self-centered, nice enough simpleton, such a great foundation for caricature (Jane Austen was a genius at that!) Mr Allen too wordy in general.Isabella is FAR TOO NICE. She is supposed to be chatty, self-centered in a bad way, befriending Catherine with her own motives in mind.John Thorpe - completely wrong - oh my...another chance of caricature (and fun!!!) lost.Seems to be they just took the script from the 1986 version and juiced it up a bit (not that I watched that one through...life is short, and at least I want to decide what I waste it on - not this!!!) - a Roman bath scene??? Hello??? lol Catherine - oh Catherine. I love Catherine,naive and simple as she might be. Here she flirts, pouts and suffers from hormonal overflow - yucky! That they used a voice over with verbatim parts from the novel makes this even more ---- HORRID!!!:-) As has been stated here: If you don't do Jane Austen to the book, leave it! (Or take better script writers, actors and directors - I'm not adverse to interesting adaptations - like Clueless for Emma - but this is unnecessary drab)

loved this movie! J Field and felicity Jones did an awesome job and have brought back romance to a movie..clean and tastefully done. henry's character was witty and you can't help being drawn to him and Catherine's character is complete innocence...unfortunately for me, i watched it too many times,,thank you for such a romantic, witty, and innocent movie..look forward to seeing more work by these actors, although in Canada we don't seem to get as much as i would like..good luck to these very talented actors. i would have loved to see more of the countryside of the movie, apparently it was filmed in ireland,would have loved to see more od the beautiful buildings such as woodston.