On February 3, 2024, Hallmark aired the first of its “Loveuary” pics: Paging Mr. Darcy. This romcom is written by award-winning playwright Reina Hardy, and follows a fictional Austen scholar who travels to attend a Jane Austen conference called “The Jane Austen League of America Annual Conference and Ball” and, of course, falls in love with a costumed Mr Darcy cutie who is helping out his famed Princeton professor auntie hold the event.
Originally, Hardy was going to call the fictional group “The North American Jane Austen Society” (NAJAS), but it was too similar to “The Jane Austen Society of North America Annual General Meeting” (JASNA AGM) As this interview with the film’s screenwriter explains, Hardy attended the 2022 AGM with the purpose of learning more about a real Jane Austen conference so she could create a realistic fictional one, but she says she actually already had the outline of her script ready to go–she just wanted to attend the AGM to confirm that yes, she was on the right track. Hardy says in the interview that she wanted her romcom to reveal the “dichotomies” present in a Jane Austen conference world with its seemingly opposite “academic and fannish qualities.” As the film ultimately reveals to us, those qualities do not have to be oppositional.
The star of this film is Mallory Jensen who plays Eloise Cavendish–the Austen scholar who has “a bit of a chip on her shoulder about the way Austen can be devalued and dismissed because she writes about women and marriage,” Hardy says in the JASNA interview. Because of this attitude, Eloise, er, “Dr. Cavendish,” “can’t quite let herself have fun as an Austen fan.” Ah–the age old scholar-can’t-be-a-fan scenario.
PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD.
I gotta say, the casting of the actress playing Eloise reminds me of the images we have seen of Jane Austen. The dark hair. The shape of the face. It’s all a riff on Jane, right? Yeah, and I’m here for it.
At first I was put off by this character we meet on an airplane using a yellow highlighter to highlight the opening sentence from Pride and Prejudice (PP). No scholar would do that, especially one who has read PP multiple times and is actually the conference keynote speaker. That moment in the film is for the audience who might not know the first line by heart or might just want to see it highlighted.
Even worse, Eloise throws major shade at the random guy sitting next to her on the airplane when he asks if she’s a teacher. “Professor,” she says in a haughty tone. The opening scene doesn’t just set Eloise up to be disconnected from general Austen enthusiasts; it makes all professors of Austen, maybe even literature of any kind, seem like snooty jerks.
That said, I decided to cut the film some slack for what it is trying to do. It is trying to show that Austen is not just a romance writer–even though this film is a romcom! As Eloise explains, there’s much more to Austen’s works of social realism. She’s a comic genius! I have to agree.
But Eloise clearly has issues with men, for when she sees the guy who is there to pick her up from the airport and take her to the conference site, she goes to town on him for being dressed up Regency style like a Mr Darcy who just arrived from Pemberley. This chaperon is Sam Lee (played by Will Kemp), the nephew of the famous Princeton literature professor who happens to be in charge of hiring a new Austen scholar to work at the university. Sam is there to help out with the conference and ball, and a part of this is playing that Darcy-like part. Eloise, however, is having none of it. Until she realizes that oh hey this guy is nice and hot…and can get her some bonus points by schmoozing with his auntie, who happens to love being an Austen fan, Eloise dismisses Sam.
Side note: I appreciate that Eloise’s sister, Mia, quickly shows us that this film is also riffing off of Sense and Sensibility (SS). And I’m here for it. Eloise = Elinor. Mia = Marianne. I see what you did there, Reina Hardy. When Mia’s boyfriend does not propose to her the way she wanted him to and then she falls into a crying fest, I couldn’t help but think of Marianne and Willoughby. And the Princeton professor is named Victoria Jennings. Ah, a Mrs. Jennings character. How nice! And she loves Jane Austen Comic Con–I mean the conference and ball! Figures. She’s not a “stuffed shirt academic” like Eloise is. Elinor is also a bit stuffy, if I’m being honest. There are actually many more SS references in the film–I think it’s because Hallmark is doing a straight-up adaptation of SS later in the series.
Professor Jennings is really nice, actually–much nicer than Mrs. Jennings from SS. She says she gave up a lot for academia–presumably a family and a love life–and tells Eloise that she sees a lot in her of herself. Also she says Jane Austen would want Eloise to find her own Mr Darcy. I get that. I gave up a lot for academia, too.
Back to Eloise and her hatred of everything fun. Eloise is at this conference and refuses to dress up in Regency attire, dance, or do anything that would let her scholar guard down. “You know you can be a scholar and have a little fun,” Sam says. Hell yeah, I say! At least early in this movie Eloise realizes that she was being a real brat and apologizes to Sam. Oh, wait, she’s only angling for the Princeton job! ha! Seeing right through this, Sam makes her a deal: he’ll help her get the Princeton job if she can get a seeming “cad” away from his aunt. Sam believes this former actor who played Willoughby in an 80s film is trying to woo his aunt, and only because he too wants the job. How awesome that Eloise and Sam can work together for a good cause.
It’s funny that Sam tries to get Eloise into a costume and ready for a ball, but she is so anti-dress up that she refuses to go to the ball. She does at least try to learn how to dance. And she does make a bonnet. 😀 Here’s the thing: Eloise is actually terrified of being looked at as anything other than “the smart one.” Unlike her sister Mia, Eloise doesn’t have social confidence. She is too caught up in being an unmarried woman in her 30s who doesn’t know how to dance and doesn’t want anyone to see her as anything but Dr. Cavendish, who incidentally doesn’t need a man or need to get married. Of course, she needs to let her guard down so that she can fall in love. Hmmmm. I wonder with whom? 😀
One thing I appreciate about this movie is that Sam is using the Mr Darcy costume to actually escape his own life. Being Darcy lets him feel important. He likes playing the part of a Darcy because in real life he also lacks confidence in himself. Huh! It’s a match made in Heaven. He’s actually a really nice guy who loves his aunt. He’s also a business man working in the tech field, and he’s into nonprofits. I like him. And so does Eloise.
Oh, and then there’s an Eloise and Sam cooking montage! Rolling the dough, pressing the cookies. How romantic! It’s like the pottery scene from Ghost! I think they’re falling in love! And oh the one liners: “Too many Wickhams in the world and not enough Darcys!”
And yet Eloise still has this hangup about Sam wearing a Darcy costume. Girl, get over it. I have to say that I actually love all the modern outfits Eloise wears! Which makes me think the producers must have been looking at my Instagram for inspiration. 😀
Oh, and how wonderful that Sam takes Eloise to an Austen exhibit. Not a date, but you know. Eloise of course cannot enjoy the exhibit because it has the letter where Jane talks about Tom Lefroy on display. Eloise raves against how people want Austen to have some kind of romantic history. She also mentions the one night Austen was engaged, though doesn’t mention his “Bigg-Wither” name. Eloise is so anti-romance because she says there’s more to Austen than that. And she’s right. But that doesn’t mean we have to erase any idea of romance from the Austen life story, right? After the exhibit not-a-date, Eloise admits she is having fun. Gasp!
To seal the deal, this film isn’t just about Eloise needing to learn a lesson about life and love; it’s also about Sam’s development. We have to see that Sam was a dork growing up. How can we know this? Oh, when Sam as Darcy is out on a golf course, he runs into some old high school or college chum who must have treated him like shit, and we can see that Sam is uncomfortable. This adorably attractive British guy is vulnerable. What’s not to love? This actually seems to make Eloise more interested in Sam. Then someone at the conference who knows Sam confirms, yes, he’s always been a dork–but a charming one.
But oh! We need a love triangle, right? And guess what–it’s Mia’s sister who gets in the way of Eloise’s love match. The brokenhearted Mia is really ruining Eloise’s day when she shows up on the course in some kind of pseudo Regency wear–really, it’s just a maxi dress, bonnet, and parasol–and joins up in a bocce ball match with Sam contra Professor Jennings and Eloise. That’s some drama. But oh, there’s more! Mia’s boyfriend shows up with roses to woo her after mucking up the proposal he made two days ago. However, he gets jealous of Sam because he looks like Darcy!
And, on top of that, Mia calls Sam’s costume Victorian when it’s actually Regency. I can’t tell you how many times students tell me Austen was a Victorian writer. Except that she died before the era began. Oops. To make matters worse, Mia steals Eloise’s part as a replacement in an Austen theatrical. How dare she! Sam’s friend tells Eloise sam’s actually shy. It’s just the part that makes him so outgoing. Gotta say the theatrical is hilarious. I will dance with my quill tonight! says the actor playing Jane Austen.
The film portrays Eloise as a perfectionist,and a downright human, just like the rest of us profs out there, who has insecurities and sometimes looses her cool. For instance, Mia embarrasses Eloise when she tells Dr. Jennings that Eloise doesn’t like the Austen dress up stuff and that she must hire Eloise. Eloise flat out tells her off. She gives her sis a dressing down–very Elinor and Marianne. Ouch.
And then when Eloise runs into Sam she tells him off. Damn. Poor Sam, who tells Eloise, “I don’t want to dance with someone who doesn’t want to dance with me.” Oof. He says she doesn’t have to dance with him at the ball, and then she is crushed.
At least after she and her sister make up and Eloise gives her amazing keynote talk, Dr. jennings says all is cool. Things are put back in order. In fact, Dr. J says Eloise got the Princeton job. What a fairy tale. But the thought of two Austen scholars working in one english department? Unlikely.
Because Eloise has had her cry and realizes the error of her ways, we have to see her undergo a Regency transformation. That’s right. Eloise attends the ball and looks so lovely in her Regency gown. But oh, wait, surprise! Rob shows up to properly propose to Mia and is dressed in Regency attire when he gets down on the cliched knee. Eloise is overshadowed again by her sis, but this time Eloise is happy cuz it’s her baby sister who’s getting her dream come true.
Sam, we learn, has pulled a Darcy when he secretly convinced Rob to come to the ball dressed in Regency attire and ask Mia to marry him in a super romantic proposal. So that makes Mia Lydia now!
Eloise’s speech at the ball–after the proposal–goes all waxing philosophical when she admits her faults Lizzie Bennet style. (Is this a Hallmark trope?)
She asks Darcy, er, Sam, who is dressed like a guy from 2024, to dance, and when they do we are all awwwww. In the closing moments of the film Eloise even offers to do something “really inauthentic to the period”: she kisses him in front of everyone.
And the movie’s over.
I thought it was a lot of fun to watch. Well done, Hardy and Hallmark. Have you seen the film, dear reader? If so, what did you think of it?
Misty Krueger 
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