The Hallmark Channel is best known for its popular contemporary Christmas-themed fare. But this February, or "Loveuary," as they are calling it, the network has a different cause for celebration — the debut of a quartet of new films inspired by the creativity and fandom of Regency-era novelist Jane Austen, including Sense and Sensibility with a mostly Black lead cast.
The first three films center contemporary women finding love in connection with their favorite writer, each one highlighting a dimension of the novelist's enduring appeal. In Paging Mr. Darcy — which kicks off the series with its premiere Sat., Feb. 3 — a serious Austen scholar, who prizes rationality almost to the exclusion of feeling, loosens her stays while vying for a tenure track position at Princeton University. Delivering the keynote address at a costumey fan convention is far from Eloise's speed, but since the search chair is the organizer, she reluctantly plays along. Her guide and romantic interest is the event's Mr. Darcy. It's a great example of Austen tropes fused with one of Hallmark's mainstays, the fish-out-of-water-style romcom, which benefits from the fizzy chemistry between its leads. In Eloise's voice, the film effectively highlights (if not quite rising to) Austen's strengths — her wit, prose, and razor-sharp social observation.
