Austenland is a kind of Westworld for the women as Keri Russell takes her hard earned money for a trip to a kind of theme park based on the work of Jane Austen. Russell is a big fan of Jane Austen and wishes that the men were like those in Austen Victorian novels.

Of course this theme park is set in the United Kingdom and upon her arrival Russell meets up with Jennifer Coolidge and both are dressed as Austen women would be. Then it's off to the theme park for both of them where they meet the woman running the park, Jane Seymour. That casting in and of itself seems appropriate.

Austenland comes with a warning label that in these very chaste of times that the park is celebrating no physical contact is made between the women and the men all of whom are prospective Darcys. But as all moviegoers know, these things you can't control and Russell is busy dealing with the affections of a Darcy like Victorian gentleman and a rough stable hand played by J.J. Feild and Bret McKenzie.

I have to say that Keri Russell is playing a part that Reese Witherspoon had to have been offered and she is nice, wholesome, and appealing as is the film. And who does she wind up with. Well let's say that Jane Austen apparently isn't just for the female sex.

Jane Hayes (Keri Russell) is obsessed with her namesake Jane Austen and especially Mr. Darcy. She is alone and spends all her savings to participate in an Austen themed estate. The owner Mrs. Wattlesbrook (Jane Seymour) relegates her to be the dumpy Miss Erstwhile. Miss Charming (Jennifer Coolidge) is her fellow American participant except she doesn't anything about Austen. Mr. Henry Nobley (JJ Feild) is one of the characters and the Darcy type. Martin (Bret McKenzie) is the stable hand and isn't part of the play.

Writer/director Jerusha Hess made 'Napoleon Dynamite' with her husband. I'm not familiar with the Shannon Hale novel this is based on. Simply put, I like some of the comedy but the romance is too Austenest. In fact, I didn't care much about the romance or the Hollywood ending. The relationship has no chemistry and never given much of a chance in the movie. The comedy works mainly because of Jennifer Coolidge and the quirky behind-the-scenes jabs at the world of Austen. Whenever the facade falls away, there are usually a few laughs.

Jane (Keri Russell) is a Jane Austen junkie. She opts to spend her life savings to travel to England and go to Austenland where she will be immersed into the period with actors who guarantee love...or at least the false feeling of falling in love with an actor. She has the basic package and gets to be a servant girl orphan. Also on the trip is Miss Elizabeth Charming (Jennifer Coolidge) who has the deluxe package and plays an heiress. She knows nothing about Jane Austin and only crudely wants to meet a man.

Once there Jane falls for the stable help ( Bret McKenzie) while also being courted by Mr. Nobely (JJ Feild).

The film is formulaic chick flick down to the music montage to try on clothes. It is mildly Austen-like but never truly capturing the genius of Jane Austen. It is a film that can be enjoyed without being familiar with the works of Jane Austin (Just in case I took a Wiki crash course before viewing.)

A fun film