Antonia and Jane (1991)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Beeban Kidron

Writer:

Marcy Kahan (writer)

Release Date:

November 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Plain Jane Hartman hates her life. She's goofy, boring and only has sex if she reads Iris Murdoch novels out loud to her loopy boyfriend...

Plot Keywords:

Independent Film | Character Name In Title

Cast

Imelda Staunton	...	Jane Hartman
Saskia Reeves	...	Antonia McGill
Petricia Leventon	...	Rosa Gluberman
Alfred Hoffman	...	Harry Rosenthal
Maria Charles	...	Sylvia Pinker, Social Coordinator
John Bennett	...	Uncle Irwin Carlinsky
Richard Hope	...	Norman Beer, Jane's Lover
Brenda Bruce	...	Therapist
Alfred Marks	...	Uncle Vladimir Hartman
Lila Kaye	...	Jane's Mother
Bonnie Parker	...	Young Jane
Sheila Allen	...	Tutor
Bill Nighy	...	Howard Nash
Cato Sandford	...	Baby Daniel
Iain Cuthbertson	...	Edgar

Runtime:

USA:71 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:14A (Ontario) | Australia:M | USA:R

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Last film of Alfred Marks.

Delightful, well acted but too short

This is a little gem of a movie. Antonia and Jane are old-time friends...or something like that. Because they are two very different women. Jane is a bit of a loner, weird, intellectual and very insecure about her appearance, at least on the surface. Antonia on the other hand, is a woman of the world, sophisticated and, as opposite to Jane, very sure about herself at first glance. However, things are not what they seem. Unaware that they share the same therapist, we quickly learn that Jane, who may look like "the loser" in this friendship, is envied by Antonia because she has a will and drive to explore new areas that Antonia lack. And Jane on the other hand thinks that Antonia has everything you could ever want (including Janes ex-boyfriend). This movie is quite insightful, but too short to explore any real depths. It has the feel of a Woody Allen movie, with smart one-liners and quirky characters. Most of the time it is a genuinely funny movie. I really like they both start to hallucinate about the way Antonia stole Jane's boyfriend (on tv and in a movie respectively). The movie-within-the-movie "La guerre de Jane Hartmann" is deliciously OTT. The only drawback I see in this movie is the fact that it is too short and the end is so hurried. But, all in all, I can watch this over and over again and I urge others to do the same! :-)