Beautiful Creatures (2013)

This film incorporates elements of "Twilight" and "To Kill a Mockingbird" to make for a confused film. Lena (Alice Englert) is the new kid in school. Ethan (Alden Ehrenreich) who is not the brightest bulb in the pack, is attracted to her, even with her attempts to brush him off. We soon find out Lena has telekinetic powers, as does her family who are not witches but castors. You can look that up on Google.There are flashbacks to a local Civil War battle fought on Dec.21, Lena's birthday. Her 16th birthday is approaching, a time when she will become...Lena could have been played by Kirsten Stewart with an occasional facial expression, while Ethan was an irritating goober. Dad was a creepy gentry, rounding out characters that were fairly stereotypical. The locals were so stereotypical, I almost barfed. I would wait for the DVD with the commentary if you haven't read the book.Parental Guide: No F-bombs, sex, or nudity

The user reviews seem invested in two separate issues - whether this is a faithful adaptation of the books or whether it is a worthy successor to the Twilight series. Given that my wife forced me to watch this movie - and I have never seen a Twilight film and don't plan on it in the near future - I thought I could add some perspective not covered by the other reviews. First, this is a terrible movie. The plot is convoluted and basically involves a rather mundane version of the "love conquers all" narrative. If you've ever watched a teen movie, you probably can trace its broad contours, although it adds a weird Civil War backstory and some witch crap for seemingly no reason. The best (and most interesting) moments of the entire movie are when you strip out the fantasy garbage and focus on the teens being normal people, even though, for the most part, they are both unremarkable characters. Second, this movie is a ridiculously stereotypical portrait of the South, one that somehow simultaneously is disrespectful to its residents and somehow at the same time manages to neatly avoid all its problems. For starters, if you're looking for anything close to a respectful depiction of race relations, you're going to be sadly disappointed. The only two black characters are a popular teenager with no brain and the equivalent of the Jamaican voodoo doctor. In addition, the Southern white characters are portrayed as basically stupid hicks, who do weird things like pray in class and talk about Satanism. Especially in contemporary society, teenagers are relatively homogenized by YouTube culture, and they are a little more sophisticated than religious fanatics. Basically, every single character is a stereotype. Interestingly enough, though, the movie even insults our intelligence by failing to depict the rampant self- segregation throughout the South. The movie doesn't even attempt to touch anything about race and uses the Civil War mostly as a set piece to talk about the lives of white people. Granted, I don't watch a lot of teenage dramas, but it's insulting to think that they aren't capable of the critical awareness that is necessary to responsibly deal with these questions. Honestly, it's embarrassing that such high-profiled actors would be involved in this kind of movie that romanticizes the plantation and whitewashes Southern life. On top of that, the casting in this movie is ridiculous. Jeremy Irons is just not believable as an old Southern gentleman, and for all my respect for him as an actor, he's absurd in this part. The main actor has a Southern accent that made me literally laugh when he walked on the screen. Emma Thompson, to her credit, is much better in her role, but sometimes it seems like she's struggling to add depth to the lines. I actually thought Viola Davis was the only actor who "stood out" as being effective in her particular role. I could say more about the movie. The soundtrack, for example, was laughably heavy-handed, and I haven't even begun to talk about issues of gender representation. However, suffice to say, this movie reveals quite a bit about Hollywood's insulting perception of teenagers. They are capable of thinking at a deeper level than is shown in this movie. I continue to be amazed at how Hollywood "talks down" to its audience and then is surprised at why movie profits decline because people choose to stay at home and watch good television. I don't think the question of whether this movie stayed true to its source material is a particularly interesting one - it's difficult for me to imagine a way this particular plot with these characters could ever become something more than pop drivel.

Why choose someone as un-charming, un-likable and super old looking actor for the part as Ethan? Alden Ehrenreich is perhaps a good actor, in other things, but in this movie, he is playing the part as the lover, the savior, the good person. And yet, I don't believe it. At all. The movie is of a well known theme. The witches against the mortals. The good vs the evil. It doesn't really matter that the story is interesting, when the lead actor is this bad. They have a fantastic cast otherwise, played with somewhat faulty southern American accents. So, there is a story, there is a heroin, played very well by Alice Englert, and a very interesting group of actors and actresses. And then blah. It falls flat on its knees in the hand of Ehrenreich. I could hardly see it to the end. It became something to snigger at, to laugh at, throw popcorn at. So, given this. I am jogging on. Of to better and funnier things.

Ethan lives in Gatlin, South Carolina and visits high school there. He bemoans the fact that he has little prospect of leaving, and has applied to a number of colleges. The town seems stuck in the past, particularly the Civil War. His mother is dead; his father is next to catatonic. His welfare is looked after by himself (somewhat) and Amma (mostly). One day a new girl arrives in his class, Lena Duchannes. Her family founded the town some centuries ago, and still owns everything of importance in it.Ethan wants to get to know Lena, which immediately creates separation between him and almost all of his former friends in town. Ethan visits Lena at home, which creates immediate tension between him and her uncle, Macon Ravenwood. The Ravenwood/Duchannes clan are gathering at the family compound to witness the coming of age birthday of Lena.So far, this all seems rather ordinary. The fantasy element is that all members of the Ravenwood family are casters; that is, beings who cast magical spells, often with considerable power. At the sixteenth birthday, Ravenwood teenagers reach their full power as casters, and choose between the dark and the light sides of casting. Lena would rather not be a dark caster like her mother Seraphina, but fate seems to have marked her to be such. Ethan would like to be Lena's husband, but has the full opposition of everyone in Lena's family. Amma would like to help Lena and Ethan to their best possible outcome.I've seen this film compared to Twilight, which is odd. This film has good acting and a witty script. I do not remember laughing while plowing through Twilight, but this one is much better. I anticipated some of the outcome, but not all, and the route to get there was a fun ride.