Boring, bad acting, pointless dialogues. 35 minutes in and it couldn't make me crack a smile, let alone crack up with laughter. Just don't waste your time with it. This is not a comedy, it's the tragedy of acting.

I confess that I love everything about Persuasion. It is my favorite Austen novel. This is definitely more rom-com than Austen could ever have imagined and the characters are not particularly faithful to the novel. However, the central story is there. The character updates to the pair of Musgrove sisters (Gen Y-Z marketing team),lovelorn Benik, and Mary Elliott (mouthy, goodhearted, lesbian... my fav update) are successful. Bebe Neuwirth is brilliant as always. Alicia Witt and Shane McRae have nice chemistry as the central romantic pair. And the supporting characters are fun though not as fully developed as I would have liked. This adaptation is more in the vein of Clueless. While I don't think the story of Persuasion lends itself to comedy, I enjoyed it very much.

The 'modern day' working girl patter of this script kept me wondering how long this movie been gathering dust in a can on the shelf of some Toronto warehouse

The performances are pretty good but the script and direction, which somehow manage to make the Austen plot seem plodding, have all the hallmarks of a five year old Canadian Lifetime movie. I can't believe I paid to rent this.