Most Romantic Jane Austen Inspired Film
The Lake House, loosely based on PersuasionCaution: Hanky alert. This time travel movie is about second chances. As in Persuasion, the two characters yearn and long for someone who is out of reach. It is 2004 and Alex, played by Keanu Reeves, arrives at his new lake house. He begins to communicate with Kate (Sandra Bullock), who lived in the house in 2006. Through an unexplained alchemy, Kate and Alex discover that the Lake House's mailbox acts as a time travel communication channel through which they can correspond. As they exchange letters they fall hard for each other. Kate recalls the exact day and time she lost Persuasion on a commuter train. Using this information, she tries to meet Alex in real time. He finds the book but they miss each other by seconds. The final scene of this film is reminiscent of the pivotal scene in Persuasion, where Captain Wentworth informs Anne by letter that she pierces his soul. The passage that Alex marks for Kate in Persuasion is one of my favorites: “…there could have been no two hearts so open, no tastes so similar, no feelings so in unison, no countenances so beloved." The film suffers from a lapse in logic, as most time travel tales do, but the pairing of Bullock and Reeves is irresistible and wholly romantic.
You've Got Mail, loosely based on Pride and PrejudiceI'll watch any film with Tom Hanks in it, even Turner and Hooch. In You've Got Mail he reteamed with Meg Ryan, playing the wily Mr. Fox to her feisty Kathleen. He is the owner/manager of a Barnes & Noble type chain store that opens just around the corner from a small book shop owned by Kathleen. She dislikes him on principle, knowing that these huge chain conglomerates put local book stores out of business. Joe in turn regards her as a shrill, royal pain in the arse. Though this engaging cinematic couple spar verbally whenever they meet, they unknowingly become email pals, where they express their true feelings and allow their personalities to shine. Kathleen has read Pride and Prejudice about a hundred times and each time worries that Elizabeth and Darcy are not going to get together. In the end, all is right with the world and Elizabeth and Darcy once again get together, as do Joe and Kathleen. This movie is a remake of that wonderful 1940 classic, The Shop Around the Corner. It also brought Ryan and Hanks together in multiple scenes, which Sleepless in Seattle failed to do.
Update: I forgot to add the poll! Here it is:
