After Elinor and Marianne’s father is charged with fraud, money-laundering and swindling investors out of their money, his family is left penniless and the heiresses to the company name need to find jobs. However, finding a job is easier said than done with their last names being blacklisted at any business worthy of its name. So, Marianne decides to rather use her mother’s maiden name in order to find an occupation and thankfully Elinor finds a job as a janitor at a spa… As time goes on, Elinor and Marianne starts to sell their home-made healing cream at the spa. This business quickly takes off, though without a patent it may just be stolen and sold off by those who are more interested in becoming rich quickly than helping the heiresses out of their slump. Through hard work and real world chaos, the girls meet potential suitors along the way and become more determined to clear their names.
Scents and Sensibility is based on Jane Austen‘s novel Sense and Sensibility, but is blatantly modernized to suit the present and it’s not done badly whatsoever. However, there certainly is a small portion that will find the plot line vaguely familiar with the Hilary and Haylie Duff film, Material Girls, ever present. This does not count against the film though, seeing as it still has its own appeal and will make for a great chick flick evening with chocolates and ice-cream in abundance with your favourite gal pals in the vicinity. On the other hand, this is not the type of film that many men would enjoy, seeing as the abundance of action and big explosions are absent, though there are quite a few interesting twists for the ladies.
The fact of the matter is that although the film might be slightly independent (and with that I might add that independent is an euphemism for low budget), there are many films that are hardly as enjoyable as Scents and Sensibility. Gladly adding the fact that there are some very handsome suitors in the film, in the form of Nick Zano and Brad Johnson, but never forgetting that this film is in fact not nearly as good as some other Jane Austen film adaptations, it would be difficult to say whether or not all females with a love for romantic comedies would find this as an enjoyable and worthy flick. As a keen lover of the horror genre in particular and hardly ever venturing out of my comfort zone, I found Scents and Sensibility to be fun and cute… In short, if it could melt even the most hardened of horror fanatics (and a Jane Austen lover to boot), I am sure that it would be a pleasurable film to have in one’s collection.
The film also stars Ashley Williams (Margin Call) and Marla Sokoloff (Dude, Where’s My Car?) and was directed by Brian Borough (Changing Hearts). Scents and Sensibility is now available for pre-order and will be released on DVD in the US on the 2nd of October 2012 and in South Africa on the 5th of October 2012. No word yet when it will be available in the UK and other European countries.
