Poster of Beautiful Creatures

Beautiful Creatures

Drama, Fantasy, Romance

Director: Richard LaGravenese

Release Date: February 14, 2013

Where to Watch

Any movie where Viola Davis looks sexy and fabulous and Jeremy Irons wears white silk can’t be all bad. Beautiful Creatures veers from fabulous to utterly meh. I couldn’t stop thinking angrily about the historical premise: the “cause,” i.e. the Civil War or right to own & exploit people, the idea of a caster destroying Union Army which was cast as villains. Oh great. Young adults definitely need to romanticize the great South of old–thanks writers. Excuse me while I retch. I didn’t feel too bad about the stereotypical portrait of intolerant Christians, particularly so soon after the Presidential election, but I can see that being a turnoff for some in the audience. The switch from Ethan, the human, as protagonist to Lena, the immortal crush, did not quite work. The good casters were kind of cartoonish, and one young male caster looked like a Twilight reject. Some of the confrontations seemed stupid-like a moment from a Disney movie and not in a good way. There was one amazing allusion to Rita Hayworth as Gilda, but ultimately great cinematic moments were wasted and went no where. I’m getting to the age where the main characters seem less compelling than the supporting cast.

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