Austenland is so horrible it does not deserve a full ripping here on Irreviews. It’s so horrible, I didn’t even want to turn it off, feeling inexorably compelled to learn if it could actually get even worse (and it did, I might add!) It’s so horrible, I was speechless afterward, as well as depressed and saddened that things are so bad, role-wise, for Hollywood actresses, that someone like Keri Russell would even consider appearing in an abomination like this, let alone go through with it.

Setting aside the painful attempts at humor that dominate this entire film, Austenland might have almost been tolerable if they had not insisted on talking down to their audience all the way through. They made Keri Russell’s fixation on Mr. Darcy so over-the-top that she comes across as mentally retarded, and combined with the even more retarded Jennifer Coolidge (an actress who really needs to go away at this point), the place “Austenland” comes across like a camp designed to exploit people with developmental deficiencies. I think this is why you get such a queasy feeling while you’re watching this movie – you’re almost afraid to move, lest you attract someone’s notice as you indulge in the systematic humiliation of the most vulnerable and defenseless members of our society.