rtfully directed by first-time feature director Robin Swicord, The Jane Austen Book Club is the big screen adaptation of the 2004 bestselling novel by Karen Joy Fowler, but with mixed results. The film version centers on five life-weary women who seek solace and escape by creating the Jane Austen Book Club, wherein they meet regularly to discuss Austen's complete works.

It doesn't take long to figure out that each character's story conveniently parallels with an Austen novel, as they all see themselves in their favorite literature; “Each of us has a private Austen,” says a character near the beginning.

Recent divorcee Sylvia (Amy Brenneman), depressed French teacher Prudie (Emily Blunt) and commitment-phobe dog breeder Jocelyn (Maria Bello), among others - work their way through Austen's novels, obsessively evaluating the stories based on how they reflect upon their own lives. Adding to the Austen-ites is free-spirited founder Bernadette (Kathy Baker), Sylvia’s lesbian daughter Allegra (Maggie Grace). A science-fiction lover (Hugh Dancy) has been recruited by Jocelyn in the hope that he might date heartbroken Sylvia; but despite being shy and self-effacing, is actually fixated on Jocelyn herself. This predictability is typical of nearly all the plot lines.

The tale unfolds as a series of monthly meetings; they congregate at Starbucks, in hospital rooms and even on a beach outing that honors one of Austen’s locales. Fun, yes, but the group also deals with betrayal, temptation and dysfunction – all this all packaged up in pure Austin fashion.

Swicord, who wrote the Geisha screenplay, as well as Little Women, makes light of her characters' self-centeredness without ever deliberately making fun of them. She also drops in just enough about Austen's classics for the audience to understand the references without having read the books. Sadly, her pacing is off, as some scenes are longer than they need to and others slide by so fast you miss the effect.

The skilled actresses do the best they can to create memorable characters, but in the end, it's a gimmicky story that isn’t any better or worse than the bland “Becoming Jane,” a fantasy of Austen’s youthful love life. Despite its flaws, Book Club is a heady mix of sexual thrill and female fluff, the kind of wish-fulfillment fantasy entertainment that should satisfy the average bookish moviegoer.