Whit Stillman’s romantic comedy, Love and Friendship, stars the divine Kate Beckinsale as a devious man hunter obsessed with finding a suitable husband for herself and her daughter. This drawing room period piece, based on a novella by Jane Austen, opens in Canada on May 27.
More farcical than dramatic, it unfolds in a series of grand upper-middle class homes in late 18th century England. A procession of characters, all dressed immaculately and all speaking in perfectly-formed sentences, parade through the film.
Lady Susan Vernon (Beckinsale), a merry widow, flits from one relative to the next as she devises a scheme to land a man. “A lady has to secure her future,” she says. Demure yet calculating, she plots her moves like a seasoned general commanding an army.
Accustomed to the privileges of polite, moneyed society, she’s attended to by a bevy of servants in fancy frock coats and white wigs. They’re always at her beck and call, helping her in and out of horse-drawn carriages and serving her tea on the finest china.
Lady Susan’s constant companion, Alicia Johnson (Chloe Sevigny), an American, is married to a prim and proper Englishman with whom she seems to have minimal contact.
Working behind the scenes, Lady Susan corrals Reginald de Courcy (Xavier Samuel), a refined younger man who seems smitten by her feminine charms. But because they rigorously play by the rules, they behave discreetly in public, neither kissing nor exchanging mutual glances.
Meanwhile, Lady Susan arranges a match for her daughter, Frederica (Morfydd Clark), a fine specimen of British womanhood. The suitor, Sir James Martin (Tom Bennett), is rich but silly. A blockhead, though a good catch, observes deCourcy with a mixture of contempt and pragmatism.
The intrigues do not stop there, as viewers eventually learn. Lady Susan, a consummate schemer, always has a few tricks up her sleeve.
Stillman directs Love and Friendship with a steady hand, striking a delicate balance between decorum and farce. He works with a singularly talented cast of actors who blend into their roles seamlessly, with Beckinsale and Samuel particularly standing out.