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Actors: Imelda Staunton, Saskia Reeves, Bill Nighy, Brenda Bruce, Lila Kaye, Richard Hope, John Bennett, Alfred Rosenthal
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Antonia & Jane |
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In this touching British comedy, two women friends, Antonia and Jane, unknowingly share the same therapist (Brenda Bruce), each using their respective sessions to discuss their upcoming annual dinner with one another.
Jane Hartman (Imelda Staunton) is a social misfit who disc jockeys on Saturday nights at a retirement home. Concerned that she is unmarried, the well-meaning retirees ply Jane with poppy seed cake and photos of their eligible grandsons. When she is not spinning records, Jane is involved in a bizarre relationship with Norman Beer (Richard Hope), a man who only can become aroused if his partner reads aloud from Iris Murdoch novels. Not only does Jane detest poppy seed cake, she hates the prose of Iris Murdoch.
Jane admits to her therapist that she has always had difficulty in expressing her true feelings and voicing her complaints, a problem her confident, chic and sophisticated friend Antonia McGill (Saskia Reeves) does not possess. Seen through flashbacks, Jane explains that the trouble began at ten years of age when her parents moved her to Canada, seeking a healthy lifestyle for their daughter. While Jane learned many useful things in Manitoba, her “street credibility was minus zero” when she returned to England a few years later. Having spent her formative years in a canoe, Jane was looking to lifelong friend Antonia McGill (Saskia Reeves) to help her become a normal teenager. Even though Antonia was horrible to Jane when they were children, Jane idolized her. Antonia dragged Jane to a stylish boutique, desperate for her friend to lose her “Nanook of the North” image. Jane wanted to discuss politics while Antonia went on and on about the importance of clothes. Annoyed with Antonia for being so superficial, Jane left the store in a huff. After that disappointing meeting, Jane says she “retreated into reality”, becoming absorbed in many unusual hobbies over the years. She soon met Howard Nash (Bill Nighy, “Pirates of the Caribbean 2“), a promising young photographer. Six months later, Jane met up with Antonia at the gym, gushing about her ecstatically happy love affair. Antonia is delighted for Jane and soon goes to her flat to meet Howard. A few weeks later, Antonia admitted that besides having an affair, she and Howard are engaged to be married. Suppressing her anger, Jane attended the wedding, agreed to water their plants while they went on a honeymoon and bought expensive gifts after the birth of their son. Jane even went out with Antonia and Howard for dinner after they were married. When that proved to be rather awkward, Jane and Antonia agreed to meet just once a year … just the two of them. Jane confides to the therapist that she has never forgiven Antonia. When the therapist asks, “Why do you keep on seeing her?” Jane answers that she does not know.
When successful book publisher Antonia arrives for her therapy appointment awhile later, she announces that her life is one big mess. Besides having the usual trouble at work with her exasperating boss Edgar, Antonia's marriage is in jeopardy as accused-of-cheating Howard has moved out. Much to Antonia's horror, her young son has turned her volatile marriage into an inappropriate comedy routine for his school friends. In Howard's absence, Antonia has been excessively exercising, compulsively overeating, hoping to sort out her dismal financial situation and trying to rid her life of clutter. She is also having doubts about her approaching dinner with Jane. Antonia tells the therapist that she does not know why the women even bother with the yearly dinner, as single, adventurous Jane always manages to make Antonia feel middle-aged. When the therapist advises canceling the dinner, Antonia nixes the idea. Knowing that their friendship might be doomed, the two women must decide in the following weeks whether to make this the last dinner they ever share together.
--Tara Dugan, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Antonia & Jane |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 1980's-1999
Inner struggle or disability
Yes
Ethnic/Regional/Gender story?
Yes
Woman/class/friends story?
- story of group of friends
Battle with shrink/bum?
- battle with a psychiatrist
Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Profession/status:
- salesman
Age:
- 20's-30's
Eccentric:
Yes
- eccentric
- emotionally unstable
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn curly
Body type
- (woman) fat
Unclothed?
- Chest
Events of movie makes character more...
- tougher
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Hair color
- blonde
Hair style
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn wavey
Body type
- (woman) average
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
Main Adversary
Identity:
- general circumstances
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 90%-100%
Setting
City?
Yes
City:
- London
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
Movie makes you feel...
- very happy
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references only
- kissing
- touching of personal anatomy
- use of artificial tools
- seeing breasts
- sex under blankets
Non-American film?
Yes
What language?
- English
Subtitles?
- No
Any profanity?
- Occasional swearing
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Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 Tara Dugan
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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