Review of Beastly (2011) by Maksim B — 09 Oct 2011

Adapting one of the most magical stories to a modern teenage romance has never been so painful ,predictable and uninspirational. Beastly is a boring modern version of The Beauty & The Beast which comes both short of substance and cinematographic qualities.

The elegant and unforgettably romantic fairytale, upon which Beastly is based, is presented in a sloppy and uneven manner. The main plot-line : discovering inner beauty and true love, lacks any emotional or dramatic load. The poorly written script and the lack of chemistry between the two leads make the situation even worse. On top of that, the introduction of the three sub-plot lines ( Lisa Gay Hamilton's family in Jamaica, Neil Patrick Harris' blindness and the father-son relationship) add up nothing but further confusion to the story.

This, combined with disturbingly moaning wanna-be-the-new-teenage-star Alex Pettyfer, makes Beastly an almost impossible task to bear. The only sign of cuteness and charm comes from the sweet performances of Vanessa Hudges and Neil Patrick Harris. The former fits perfectly the image of a cute teen, while the latter improves his well-known image of womanizer (from How I Met Your Mother) to a blind womanizer with a good heart. Unfortunately this is not enough to save Daniel Barnz's movie.

Beastly requires lots of patience and rewards nothing back. Its poor attempt to be a modern 21st Century adaptation of the timelesss The Beauty and The Beast fairytale is nothing but a boring and ugly flop.