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Bel Ami Reviews
This transparent Robert Pattinson vehicle is little more than a nineteenth century Parisian episode of Gossip Girl.
[Robert] Pattison does step beyond Twilight and give us a bit more depth, not to mention some nice ass, er, ass work.
Guy De Maupassant, an expert craftsman of the short story, known for his brilliant flashes of naturalism and realism, here lies butchered on the silver screen in one bloated, unnatural, unrealistic adaptation of his work.
There's almost nothing about Bel Ami which doesn't feel contrived and artificial.
It's neither seductive nor absorbing, and although I hate to point the finger... I would say the lead actor, Robert Pattinson, means well and tries hard, bless, but just doesn't have the chops.
The performances are incredibly hammy; the worst culprit being Pattinson whose turn is not only weak, but incredibly irritating to boot.
Nothing more than insufficiently directed codswallop in delectable costumes, with a starry cast who are worthy of much, much better.
Bel Ami could have been well-dressed, saucy escapism but as far as costume dramas go, it's big on costumes and woefully short on drama.
Unfortunately the rather ludicrous camp characteristics of the story, such as Uma Thurman rolling around on Egyptian cotton sheets shouting "Look at the grain exports to Algiers!" are never fully recognised...
"Bel Ami" ends up being a film that feels cold and distant because of the stale lead and a story that makes no room for the affection between any of the couples.
This is the perfect film to cure someone of an obsession with "RPatz".
A gassy, self-satisfied adaptation of the 1885 novel of the same name, threadbare Parisian period piece Bel Ami belies the erroneous notion that costume dramas automatically have a higher IQ than their contemporary dramatic brethren.
Pattinson fails to step up and command this film with his performance, and never settles on anything definitive for his character.
As a caddish young man who seduces his way up the social ladder in late-19th-century Paris, Robert Pattinson looks much more the part than a too-old-for-the-role George Sanders in Hollywood's watered-down 1947 version, The Private Affairs of Bel Ami.
The film is far too concerned with its 'costume' and not nearly enough with its 'drama'.
Visually, the film is ornate and very attractive while the story, based on the 1885 novel by Guy de Maupassant, is essentially a pulpy morality tale about the perils of taking short cuts through life. A very satisfying, rough-edged period drama.
Pattinson doesn't work as the manipulative cad that this story demands.
A promising cast fails to save this period downer.
The supposedly cunning protagonist registers as a cipher, and the directors' tendency to shoot dialogue scenes in close-up blunts any understanding of the social milieu he's trying to conquer.
All four of the main actors are worth seeing, but don't expect the movie to amount to much.