Movie: Beastly

[winter_elf]

Last week was the action flick. This week was the Rom-com (though not really, more a fantasy romance)! I'd only seen minimal advertising on Beastly (one trailer in the theater), so it wasn't being pushed as much, but the trailer looked interesting.

I went with 5 others: 4 girls and one guy. The audience was pretty much young teens, and yea, it was a teen movie. But an enjoyable one. I liked this modern retelling of the Beauty & the Beast fable. It had solid acting, great scenery of NYC and a really effective scene of when he changes into the tattooed skinhead done very well with camera work instead of flashy CGI (some CGI, but not overdone). Also they really showed what this kids home life was like and how he became the jerk. He had a lot to change, and maybe it was slow in the film, but I think he was making progress.

Or, us girls enjoyed it, hotmarscube was like 'OMG! POKE MY EYES OUT WITH PINS! ARGH!'. He didn't enjoy it. Called the main character a stalker jerk and couldn't get into WHY this girl would put up with it. The rest of us just looked at him...... uhm.. in EVERY SINGLE ROM-COM we could think of, the guy =IS= a stalker! He'll follow the girl around to see what she likes, who her friends are, what to get her, be there to pick her up when she collapses, be there to rescue her .... it's a common trope. Healthy relationships just don't make for good movies it seems.

Comments

[hotmarscube.livejournal.com]

As one reviewer put it, "Beastly was made with tween girls in mind. It's the kind of love story a viewer can believe in when she is indiscriminating enough to ignore bad acting, bad writing, and mediocre filmmaking. For those who happen to be in the target category, Beastly will likely be welcomed as enjoyable fluff. For those who are not, however, it's 90 minutes better spent doing something else - anything else."

So why did I go? I want to understand the mind of a tween girl. For my writing, and as a father of a girl who will be one in the not-too-distant-future. From the looks of it, I have a long way to go in that journey of understanding.