When our plans go awry, sometimes the best decision is knowing when to cut our losses.
Last week, former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnsonresigned after a series of scandals became too much to bear. Mostly known outside of the country for his support for Brexit, he finally stepped down after initially ignoring the whirlwind swirling around him.
Those on the right in this country should note. When someone at the peak of political leadership misuses their power for personal gain, they and everyone who helped them should be expelled from office. Instead, in the United States, they continue to stay in their position and spread the lie that the results of a certain Presidential election were fraudulent.
Jane Austen, is if nothing else the Queen of the modern romantic comedy. Her tales of love, loss, growth, and sometimes forced humility has entertained fans for over 200 years.
The new movie, Mr. Malcolm’s List (based on the book of the same name by Suzanne Allain), was released in movie theaters last weekend.
Julia Thistlewaite (Zawe Ashton, replacing Gemma Chan) has been publicly spurned and wants revenge. After four seasons on the marriage market, she is still single. The man who spurned her is Mr. Jeremy Malcolm (Sope Dirisu). Mr. Malcolm is the most sought-after bachelor of the season and has the pick of the litter when it comes to his future wife.
To fend off the masses, he has created a list of qualities that a woman must have if she is to become Mrs. Malcolm. When Julia finds out about the list via her cousin, Lord Cassidy (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), she concocts a plan to get back at him. Enlisting her old school friend Selina Dalton (Freida Pinto), she and Lord Cassidy (known to his friend as Cassie) turn Selina into marriage bait. The final result is for Selina to reveal her own list and reject Mr. Malcolm.
But as things tend to go in this genre, the scheme is turned on its head. Jeremy and Selina genuinely fall for one another. Making this love story even more twisted is the addition of Captain Henry Ossory (Theo James). Captain Ossory seems also to be courting Selina, creating a very interesting love triangle.
Though it helps to know something about the regency era and/or Austen’s writing, it is not a requirement to enjoy the film. There is enough to keep the modern fan entertained and laughing.
Like its streaming counterpart, Bridgerton, the main actors all come from different backgrounds. What drew me in and kept me going was the organic romance between Pinto and Dirisu’s characters. These are two people who are perfect for one another, if only they can put down their individual baggage.
My only complaint is that the secondary relationship between Julia and Henry was a little underdeveloped. They are supposed to be the Jane Bennet and Mr. Bingley to Selina and Jeremy’s Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. The problem is that while Austen fully developed both couples, Allain (who wrote both the book and the screenplay) left Julia and Henry hanging.
Do I recommend it? Absolutely.
Mr. Malcolm’s List is presently in theaters.
P.S. The costumes are gorgeous. Wearing any of them (specifically the ones worn by Pinto) would be a dream come true.
If our history books have proven one thing, it is that women are underestimated. We have so much power to change the world. But for that change to happen, that power must be harnessed and our voices must be heard.
In 2021, Resistance: How Women Saved Democracy from Donald Trump by Jennifer Rubin was published. Rubin tells the story of how American women, from 2016 to 2020, fought for our country while you know who sat in the Oval Office. The story starts in the fall of 2016 when he who shall not be named won that year’s Presidential election. Many presumed (myself included) that Hillary Clinton would be the winner. When the results were announced, shock, rage, and fear ran through the nation like a bolt of lightning.
Instead of taking to our beds and filling the proverbial hole with food or alcohol, we banded together. Organizations like EMILY’s List helped first-time political nominees from across the political spectrum run in their various districts. Not all of them won, but the fact that they threw their hats in the ring was enough to light the fires.
She spends several chapters towards the end of the book focusing on the female nominees who ran for President in 2020. Though we did not get America’s first female President, the fact that Kamala Harris was chosen as Vice President was enough to see that progress has been made. Though we know that the war for equality has not been achieved, the battles we have fought and won are victories in their own right.
This book should be required reading for every female (and anyone with a uterus by extension) above a certain age. Standing on the shoulders of previous generations of feminists, the women chronicled are history makers in their own right. Though there are those who would keep us down (I’m looking at you, SCOTUS), we have still found a way to rise up.
Do I recommend it? Absolutely.
Resistance: How Women Saved Democracy from Donald Trump is avaliable wherever books are sold.
Writergurlny 