For her part, the teenaged Frederica is doted upon by a somewhat older and filthy-rich blithering idiot, Sir James Martin (Tom Bennett, quite funny in the film’s most ostentatious turn). In due course, her daughter Frederica (Morfydd Clark) arrives after having been expelled from a tony school, and the amorous match-ups that slowly materialize are surprising for her part, Lady Susan is assiduously attended by handsome younger courtier Reginald DeCourcey (Xavier Samuel, very good in the sort role Hugh Grant played in his youth), a relationship largely played out during long, decorous walks in the extensive gardens. THR's Photo Lounge at Sundance: 'Birth of a Nation's' Nate Parker and More Stars of Park City Still, Austen has normally been a good box-office name, and this early release from Amazon Studios via Roadside Attractions could stir up some modest business in limited release prior to its small-screen debut.
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Cheeky in its approach as well as spirited and good-natured, this enterprising adaptation of the author’s relatively unfamiliar early novella Lady Susan remains buoyant through most of its short running time but lacks the stirring emotional hooks found in the best Austen works, on the page as well as the screen. A breezy twirl back into Jane Austen’s world after a bit of a cinematic layoff, Love & Friendship also marks the welcome return of American indie stalwart Whit Stillman five years after his considerably less felicitous Damsels in Distress.