87
Metascore
36 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Screen DailyAnthony KaufmanScreen DailyAnthony KaufmanThere is not an ounce of flourish to the filmmaking, but that’s always been the director’s aesthetic. His embellishments come in subtler forms, with witty dialogue and memorable characters—traits that Love and Friendship offers in abundance.
- 100The TelegraphTim RobeyThe TelegraphTim RobeyIt’s flat-out hilarious – find me a funnier screen stab at Austen, and I’m tempted to offer your money back personally. Gliding through its compact 92 minutes with alert photography and not a single scene wasted, it’s also Stillman on the form of his life.
- 95TheWrapAlonso DuraldeTheWrapAlonso DuraldeKate Beckinsale and Chloe Sevigny spin intrigues, break hearts and flirt with scandal just as effectively in the 1790s setting of “Love” as they did in “Disco,” which took place in the early 1980s.
- 90VarietyJustin ChangVarietyJustin Chang[Stillman] takes the inherent sophistication of Austen’s worldview and introduces just the right note of sly, self-deflating mockery.
- 80The GuardianNigel M SmithThe GuardianNigel M SmithBeckinsale is a hoot to watch as a character with no redeemable qualities, except for her cunning ability to get what she wants. You can’t help but love Lady Susan because of the evident joy she takes in being so duplicitous. Her energy is infectious.
- 80Time OutJoshua RothkopfTime OutJoshua RothkopfThe story is a little slight compared to the grand romantic ache of Pride and Prejudice, but Beckinsale and Stillman do their inspiration proud: Finally, a Jane Austen movie that's fresh and deliciously rotten at the same time.
- 80New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinOnly the generic title disappoints. Leo Rockas, who turned Lady Susan’s epistles into an Austen-esque novel, suggests Flirtation and Forbearance or Coquetry and Caution. But by any title this is a treat.
- 75The Film StageDaniel SchindelThe Film StageDaniel Schindel[Stillman's] dry sense and cutting sensibility are suited to the meaner edge this story has in comparison with the rest of Austen’s oeuvre.
- 75The PlaylistNoel MurrayThe PlaylistNoel MurrayBeckinsale’s performance is so funny in fact that it sucks a lot of the air out the room for her co-stars. Whenever she’s in a scene, she delivers so many pithy putdowns per second that it’s hard to pay attention to anyone else. And whenever she’s not around, the movie dims.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyThe Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyCheeky 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.