The 18th-century writer Jane Austen never married, but according to scholars, she had a brief romance with an Irish lawyer named Tom LeFroy. Becoming Jane attempts to reconstruct that failed romance. But the film itself fails to ignite our passions, what with its lackluster script and direction.

Anne Hathaway plays Jane who, even at a young age, demonstrates a quick wit and a passion for writing sardonically and copiously. She develops a soft spot for lawyer-in-training Tom LeFroy (the very talented James McAvoy), though in classic Jane Austen style, their first encounter is anything but amiable.

Eventually, sparks start to fly and witty banter sets in. But tragedy comes soon — much too soon, in fact — leaving Jane a bachelorette for the rest of her life.

Becoming Jane is watchable little film, but it has none of the sparkle and radiance of 2005's Pride and Prejudice with Kiera Knightley, or the dramatic strength of 1995's Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet.

Only for Austen fans.