Review of Beautiful Creatures (2013) by Walter M — 01 Jan 2015

In "Beautiful Creatures," Ethan(Alden Ehrenreich) is a senior in high school and already a prolific reader. So, it is no surprise that he dreams, not only about going to college far away but also about a mysterious young woman that he associates with lightning. When that turns out to be Lena Duchannes(Alice Englert) of a mysterious local family, now in his high school, that only serves to pique his interest even more. At least her uncle Macon(Jeremy Irons) invites him in for tea before warning his niece and not just about the usual teenage hormonal stuff either.

While entertaining, "Beautiful Creatures" is also extremely broad, assuming that the South is still ruled by book bannings and Civil War reenactments. And yes this has been compared to the 'Twilight' franchise, of which, I am blissfully unaware of...but the books I'm most interested in are the ones Ethan reads and of which I am always a sucker for.(Yes, no teenager should be reading 'Tropic of Cancer' but that's presuming he can make any sense out of it in the first place.) So, while Alice Englert fares better here than Alden Ehrenreich, it is the grownups, especially Jeremy Irons, Emma Thompson and Emmy Rossum, but also including Viola Davis, Eileen Atkins and Margo Martindale who are the real draw here, especially when they cut loose.