Dakota Johnson is nothing less than enchanting in "Persuasion," director Carrie Cracknell's modern-in-attitude adaptation of Jane Austen's 200-year-old novel.
Johnson plays Anne Elliot as an eye-rolling, wink-winking, fourth wall-busting charmer who brings the audience along with her in her quest for romantic redemption. The character's perky level of sass may not be as she was originally committed to the page, but Austen's works have proved nothing but adaptable, and Johnson makes the character, and thereby the story's telling, work.
Anne, the middle daughter of a vain narcissist (Richard E. Grant, delightfully hamming it up), is lovesick over her parting with Frederick Wentworth (Cosmo Jarvis), a penniless sailor with whom she broke off her engagement because of his lack of wealth and social stature. That was seven years ago and Anne is still wallowing in her depression when Frederick, now a Captain, comes back into her life, though their recoupling has several hurdles in its way.
One of them is Louisa Musgrove (Nia Towle), who is seeking Frederick's attention. Another is the dashing William Elliot (Henry Golding), who is introduced halfway into the story and has big eyes for Anne, and perhaps ulterior motives behind them. Nikki Amuka-Bird is quite good as Lady Russell, Anne's best friend and confidant.
"Persuasion" is Austen's final completed novel, a story of social rank, romance and longing, and Austen purists will bristle at the way Anne dishes to the camera, gossiping to the audience about what is happening to and around her, and at the script's modern flourishes. (At one point Anne leafs through a pile of sheet music, referring to it as a "playlist" Frederick once made for her.)
But Johnson, who has never been better or more comfortable on screen, is an ace in the role, and Cracknell brings out her natural magnetism in a way that no one else has yet managed to capture.
Johnson was awkward when she was thrown on the screen at age 25 as the meek Anastasia Steele in "Fifty Shades of Grey," and she uncomfortably suffered through the series, just as viewers did. But she has since come into her own, and "Persuasion" is the best case yet for justifying her stardom. As Anne, she always manages to bring you into her world by shooting a glance to the viewer by finding the camera. Likewise, the camera always manages to find her.
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'PERSUASION'
Grade: B
MPAA rating: PG (for some suggestive references)
Running time: 1:49
How to watch: On Netflix Friday
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