Beautiful Creatures (2013)

Directed by: Richard LaGravenese

Starring: Alden Ehrenreich, Alice Englert, Jeremy Irons, Viola Davis, Emmy Rossum, Thomas Mann, Emma Thompson and Kyle Gallner

Genre: Teen, Drama, Romance, Supernatural

Rated: PG-13

Based on the novel by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Ethan Wate thinks it’s just going to be another boring school year in Gatlin, South Carolina, dealing with the same old people and same dull events as always. Then he meets Lena Duchannes, the new girl in school, and can’t keep himself away from her. As the two grow closer, secrets are revealed, and Ethan learns more about his family, Gatlin, and the world than he ever thought possible.

I have mixed feelings about this film. In my attempt to decide my final verdict, I will lay down a list of what I did and didn’t like about it.

What I did like:
The Acting: When I first watched the trailer, I wasn’t sure how I felt about Alden Ehrenreich as the leading man, but I ended up falling in love with him. He was sweet and charming, determined as well as vulnerable, all wrapped up in an adorably awkward package. He brought Ethan to life. Englert wasn’t bad as Lena either, giving her a strength that she didn’t have in the novel. She and Ehrenreich also seemed to share a natural chemistry, which helped me care about them as a couple. Jeremy Irons was everything I expected Macon Ravenwood to be – tall, well-spoken, and sophisticated. Emmy Rossum was another actor I wasn’t sure of – especially since she’s radically different from the Ridley in the novel, but for the film’s version she does her job well. Emma Thompson stands out the most, jumping from crazy bigoted church lady to the delightfully evil Sarafine with such ease. She seemed to have a lot of fun with the character and it showed in her performance.
The Cinematography: The backdrop for this film was beautiful. It really felt like the South, with the old plantation houses, ancient trees covered in Spanish Moss, and small town charm. The Castor sets were beautiful, with Ravenwood Manor being elegant and stylish and the Castor Library having an antique feel.
The Special Effects: While they are CGI, they are done well and very imaginative. I loved the spinning dining table, the appearance of writing in The Book of Moons, and the spell casting. The snow scene did look a little fake, though, and could have been done better with practical effects.

What I Didn’t Like:
The Omission of Characters: In the novel, Amma is Ethan’s housekeeper. She has helped raise him, she takes pride in her cooking, and she is big on the practice of voodoo. She does not run the Gatlin County Library – that job belongs to Marian, the long-time friend of Ethan’s deceased mother. The film puts too much responsibility on Amma, combining her character with Marian’s, and doesn’t give Amma the ability to shine on her own. Both of these women play significant but different roles in Ethan’s life. I felt that forcibly combining the two watered down Amma’s character, and left nothing for a talented actress like Viola Davis to work with. Also missing are Ethan’s father (no big loss, he doesn’t play a huge role in the first novel), and the Sisters – Ethan’s three great aunts, who are hilarious in the novel and also provide a lot of the back story to the locket visions.
Larkin: While this character doesn’t play a super big role in the books, he is still relevant. In the film he is only in two scenes and we don’t even know what his powers are until the very end. His character isn’t really anything like he is in the novel and could have been left out entirely. This saddens me because a very talented young actor, Kyle Gallner, was cast in this role and was sorely underutilized.
The Flashbacks: These are supposed to play a pivotal role in the story, but Ethan and Lena don’t seem to care about them. We only see two, one of which is just a collection of random images that doesn’t seem to mean anything. The other tells a story that connects Ethan and Lena, yet the film gives it a brief discussion and skirts away from it. The flashback scenes were some of the most interesting in the first novel, and they explain the curse on Lena’s family and why Ethan is so drawn to her.
The Inclusion of Aspects from Beautiful Darkness: The film revealed a large plot point from the second book, involving Macon and Ethan’s mother – which I didn’t like. Also, Lena’s actions at the end of this film are very similar to those in the end of the second novel. I would have preferred to keep the two separate, especially if they want to continue the series.
No School Dance: This scene was my favorite in the book, and I really wanted to see it acted out. Who wouldn’t want to see Ridley give those popular brats a taste of their own medicine?
The Climax: While it was similar, I felt it lacked the action that it had in the book. It was missing a couple significant characters, fire, and violence. It feels the like climaxes of the first two novels in the series were mashed together poorly, screwing up the continuity of the rest of the series, should they continue to be made into films.
The Lack of Incubi: Macon Ravenwood is an incubus from a long line of them. In the film, he is nothing more than a dark castor turned light, but in the novel he is much stronger, both literally and in casting. The incubi play a significant role in the books, and I don’t see how the next two can be made into films without the inclusion of these creatures.

What I’m on the Fence About:
The Change in the Love Story: If this ends up being a stand-alone film, I can adjust to the differences in the love story. I understand Lena’s decision in the movie, and it works for the film version of the story, but it won’t if the series continues to get the film treatment. It doesn’t make sense with the story flow, and the next entries will have to be changed to follow this story arc, thus continuing to scramble the rest of the series.

Overall, it’s not a bad film, but it is severely lacking if you have read the books. I hope it remains a standalone film, because I don’t want the rest of the series to be butchered due to the changes made to the first story. Actors were underused and characters disregarded. What saves this is that aside from the deviations from the novel, the love story is still gripping to me and the acting, cinematography, and special effects were all very well done.

6.5/10 

Beautiful Boy (2010)

Directed by: Shawn Ku

Starring: Michael Sheen, Maria Bello, Alan Tudyk, Moon Bloodgood, and Kyle Gallner

Genre: Drama

Rated: R

A once loving family has long since stopped communicating. With their only son away for his freshman year at college, Kate (Bello) and Bill (Sheen) go through their monotonous daily routine, leaning ever closer to divorce. When Sammy (Gallner) goes on a shooting spree, taking his own life and those of several classmates, they have no choice but to band together against the media and public outcry, even when their own relationship is extremely fragile.

This movie is not an easy one to watch. The subject matter is dark, and the overall film is depressing. Yet, it is a film that I feel needed to be made. With such tragic acts of violence occurring so often in our society, we often blame the parents of the perpetrators. This film was rather daring in its focus on the negative effects an event like this can have on those the shooter leaves behind. It was nice to see another side to a story like this, rather than focus on the carnage involved in these scenarios.

The film did a great job depicting the grief the Kate and Bill were feeling, as well as how they were ostracized by people they once called friends and neighbors. The press staked out their home and offices, so they had to hide out with relatives. Their lives become very rough, and the viewer can’t help but wonder why Sammy would be so selfish as to do this to his family.

The only thing I wanted after the credits rolled was more about Sammy. All we really know about him is from his parents’ perspective and the few snippets of him at school. It’s obvious he is depressed and feeling overlooked, like no one ever listened to him. The only sense of his character is given through the short story that he reads, bookending the film. A story which is beautiful, but no one seems to understand. Yet through this story, and Gallner’s brief portrayal of this troubled young man, the viewer gets a sense of desperation and an urge to hug him – despite the awful things he’s about to do, and even after he does them.

The performances in the film were all top-notch. Sheen and Bello gave honest, moving performances as the grieving parents. Their pain was almost tangible, and while I didn’t always agree with some of their actions, I understood them. I also loved Alan Tudyk as Kate’s brother, Eric, who takes them in for a while. He just comes off as such a loving, funny guy, and the brief scene where he is playing with his son is so adorable that I can’t help but smile. While Moon Bloodgood did a great job as Trish, her character irritated me a lot, and I felt she caused a lot of unnecessary drama. She could have been a little more compassionate than she was. 

This is one of those films that it is very hard not to get emotionally involved in. I can’t call it enjoyable, because, with such subject matter, how could it be? What it is is a solid story with believable, sympathetic characters, great acting, and an honest view from a new perspective. 

8/10 

Cougars, Inc. (2011)

Directed by: K. Asher Levin

Starring: Kyle Gallner, Kathryn Morris, Denise Richards, Sarah Hyland and James Belushi

Genre: Drama, Comedy

Rated: R

Having been expelled from many private high schools in his four-year-career, Sam (Gallner) finally finds himself at one he enjoys. He has a fun group of friends and a “cool” headmaster. When Sam discovers that his mother can no longer pay his tuition, he is quite upset. After meeting an older woman in a bar and winding up in bed with her, Sam and his friends come up with a plan to keep him in school by creating an escort service and prostituting themselves to older women.

This film was mediocre at best. It is not my usual choice of film to begin with, but I decided to give it a shot because of Kyle Gallner playing the lead. Oh, Kyle, this crap is beneath your acting abilities. What are you doing?

Gallner’s performance is honestly the only thing this film has going for it. The other actors do their best with what they have, but their characters are so one-dimensional it really doesn’t matter. Kathryn Morris is great when she is on the screen as well, but the story is obviously centered around Sam, his friends, and Dan, the headmaster (Belushi).

The storyline could have been believable, but the writing was poorly executed. The film is supposed to depict the struggles Sam encounters as he tries to balance his business with his real life, and not allow the two to intermix. This would have been a lot easier to follow if Sam was a sympathetic character from the beginning, but he’s not. He claims all of his past expulsions were part of a string of bad luck, he’s a victim of circumstance, nothing is his fault. Somehow, the headmaster agrees with him and takes him under his wing, not even getting mad at Sam when he has every right to be. The women are all interchangeable – each one has a similar story, each one is gorgeous and willing to hop into bed with the nearest eighteen-year-old boy, no matter how nerdy looking he is. Give me a break; women like Kathryn Morris and Denise Richards could have any man they wanted, why would they select an average looking high school senior? It also irritated me that there was no positive adult female character. All the mothers in this film were depicted as laughable and practically unfit, running around with young boys and encouraging underage drinking. The dialogue also seemed forced in a lot of places, attempting to be hip and with this generation, but failing. 

The camera work was awful as well. There were times when the camera was obviously shaking when there was no need for it. As I was watching the film, I was thinking, “Has the filmmaker never heard of a tripod?” Seriously, a tripod and a dolly would have solved many of the film’s aesthetic issues.  Apparently the director was going for a “realistic” vibe, but all I got from his style was amateur, inexperienced, and shoddy.

Overall, the film was pretty bad, and beneath many of the cast members’ actual talents. Gallner, Morris and Richards are all above this inane flick. The characters are shallow, the dialogue forced and the camera work poor.

4.5/10

Cherry (2010)

Directed by: Jeff Fine

Starring: Kyle Gallner, Laura Allen, Britt Robertson, Esai Morales and Matt Walsh

Genre: Independent, Comedy, Drama

Rated: R

This coming-of-age story follows seventeen-year-old Aaron Milton (Gallner) as he enters his freshman year at an Ivy League university. He’s a highly intelligent guy, entering the engineering program on a scholarship. However, he also has a passion for art, and attends a drawing class against the wishes of his advisor and his mother. In this class he meets an older woman named Linda (Allen), whose free spirit and direct manner charm him. He soon develops a crush on Linda, but things get complicated when he goes to her house for dinner and meets her fourteen-year-old daughter, Beth, who develops a crush on him. Through this awkward triangle, Aaron learns more about himself and grows into a more confident, secure person.

When I first saw previews for this film, I wasn’t sure I was going to like it. I was afraid it was going to turn out to be just another overly sexualized college flick about a guy losing his virginity, but those fears were put to rest upon viewing. Despite the name of the film, sex is not the main focus of the storyline. Aaron isn’t just a virgin in the sexual sense; he’s a virgin to the real world – having been raised by an overly protective-to-the-point-of-controlling mother. He’s unaware of the problems people face, because he’s never had to face them. He embarks on quite the adventure with Linda and Beth, and learns a lot about the world and those he cares about on the way to finding himself.

I really liked this film. The acting was very well-done, especially from Gallner, Allen, and Robertson. Gallner is a young actor that I have been following readily for some time. He’s a very talented and versatile actor, and I haven’t disliked a single performance yet. His portrayal of the somewhat naïve, nerdy leading man was both believable and charming. Allen is fun as the free-spirited older woman but she is also able to realistically portray the complexities of addiction that afflict her. Robertson furthers this with her convincing performance as the daughter of an addict. I only wish that the relationship between mother and daughter got a little more screen time, and the audience could actually see what went on between the two of them rather than just hear it described by Beth. 

The writing feels natural. While the story isn’t entirely original, it is loosely based on the director’s life, and the writing makes you forget that similar stories have been told before. The three main characters all have full character arcs and each one has something to learn – no character in this film is flawless, but every character is redeemable.

For me, everything seemed to work for this film. The indie music really seemed to fit the characters and the storyline. The technical aspects were great – the music never overpowered the dialogue, scenes were always well-lit, etc. This is just one example of professional quality independent film.

7/10