Set in the 1790’s and based on the Jane Austen novella Lady Susan, Love And Friendship stars Kate Beckensdale as Lady Susan Vernon a recently widowed woman who is looking to find a suitable husband for her daughter Frederica (Morfydd Clark) while keeping her eyes peeled for another suitor for her own needs. Susan is a schemer at heart and decides the best course of action would be to team her daughter, that she doesn’t really seem to care about, with Sir James Martin (Tom Bennett) who swings from idiotic to irritating in equal measure all the while trying to get her claws into Reginald DeCourcy (Xavier Samuel) whom she meets while visiting her in laws, the Vernons, at their estate. But while he does not show an interest in her romantically, he is unable to hide his fascination at her brazen demeanor as Susan is scathing in her treatment of people as she often belittles them while speaking to another character even though they are standing right there in the room and her reaction when they point this fact out is just as cutting. Other characters and sub plots come and go but this movie is all about Beckensdale and her confidant in arms American, Alicia Johnson (Chloe Sevigny) as she tries her manipulation tactics on each player accordingly.

Becksendale plays the role perfectly giving the ideal balance of acting like a lady when front and center while being anything but behind the scenes and she is ably assisted by Sevigny as their relationship has a feel of giggling schoolgirls as they plot and plan behind peoples backs, delighted as each piece falls into place and while the end may not be quite what Lady Susan had in mind, she does end up with a victory….of sorts.

It’s a people watching movie which, while not mentioned as such, is told through a number of acts and most of the fun in the movie is watching the reaction of other characters to the principal player in a scene as their facial expressions are often hilarious as other players bumble their way through situations and the developing plots which slowly become intertwined. While lacking the depth of story line as other Austin adaptations it’s still worthy of a few laughs but is kept moving by Becksensdale’s portrayal.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 out Of 10