Beautiful Creatures

Rating:
Summary: Don't underestimate these women!
Review: There is a myth in Hollywood that strong women characters have to be strong women (i.e. Erin Brockovich). What I liked about the film "Beautiful Creatures" is that the lead female characters, Petula and Dorothy, are not strong women initially. They have allowed themselves to be dominated by physically, mentally and sexually abusive men. Neither seem to be capable of helping themselves out of these relationships. But, ironically, they each have the ability to help the other. And in helping eachother, they find the strength that had been beaten out of them. Even though the film addresses a serious subject, I found it to be very funny without making light of the domestic abuse issue. Susan Lynch is terrific as Dorothy, the fed-up heroine who comes to the aid of a stranger and finds herself facing murder charges. And "Mummy" fans will hardly recognize Rachel Weisz from her most familiar role as "Evie." Weisz is proving herself to be one of the most versatile actors making films today. There is an uninhibited quality about her performances that make every character she takes on totally believable. I definitely recommend this film for anyone who enjoys gritty humor and watching the underdogs win.

Rating:
Summary: Don't underestimate these women!
Review: There is a myth in Hollywood that strong women characters have to be strong women (i.e. Erin Brockovich). What I liked about the film "Beautiful Creatures" is that the lead female characters, Petula and Dorothy, are not strong women initially. They have allowed themselves to be dominated by physically, mentally and sexually abusive men. Neither seem to be capable of helping themselves out of these relationships. But, ironically, they each have the ability to help the other. And in helping eachother, they find the strength that had been beaten out of them. Even though the film addresses a serious subject, I found it to be very funny without making light of the domestic abuse issue. Susan Lynch is terrific as Dorothy, the fed-up heroine who comes to the aid of a stranger and finds herself facing murder charges. And "Mummy" fans will hardly recognize Rachel Weisz from her most familiar role as "Evie." Weisz is proving herself to be one of the most versatile actors making films today. There is an uninhibited quality about her performances that make every character she takes on totally believable. I definitely recommend this film for anyone who enjoys gritty humor and watching the underdogs win.

Rating:
Summary: Best Film Ever
Review: This is a brilliant film with lots of funny gags. The acting is great and is a great black comedy 5 stars

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Movie
Review: When I watched this movie I fell in love with it. Rachel Weisz is suberp as Petula and Susan Lynch is great as Dorothy. It all begins when Petula and her boyfriend Brian are fighting, and Brian starts strangling Petula, and Dorothy comes to her rescue and kills Brian by hitting him in the head with a lead pipe.
The action continues from there, its almost Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels meet Thelma and Lousie. Awesome flick!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Dorothy & Petula Have A Body To Die For
Review: While this movie had a promising start, it sort of crumbled like a cookie by the middle. Billed as a black comedy/suspense thriller, Beautiful Creatures stars Rachel Weisz and Susan Lynch and Petula and Dorothy, respectively. At the outset we find both women are involved in abusive relationships with very despicable men. Through a chance meeting, Dorothy intervenes, with an usual choice of a weapon, while Petula's boyfriend, Brian, is throttling her, and he is knocked unconscious. Fearful of legal entanglements and repercussions, they drag him back to Dorothy's apartment and try to decide how to best proceed. Brian regains consciousness, and while still suffering from too much drink, he falls and hits his head, ending his own life. This sets up the rest of the movie, as the women have to now deal with a dead body.

Now Brian, who is well off, works for his brother Ronnie, who is even more well off, so the women concoct a scheme to make it appear as if Brian has been kidnapped, and extort a large sum of money from Ronnie, in hopes of using that money to make a better life far away. The scheme doesn't go as planned, as a crooked cop gets involved, along with Dorothy's boyfriend, to which they both develop plans of their own. Complications abound, as the women try to stay on top of things, but eventually just end up riding out forces beyond their control.

I thought the actor who played Ronnie was especially good, presenting a calm yet menacing character, someone you wouldn't want to upset. He presented a very controlled exterior, but underneath you knew he was a dangerous man capable of providing a great deal of pain to those who crossed him. His concern for his missing brother seemed genuine, but his motivation appeared more to punish those who would dare to mess with him or his family, and restore face to his family name. I missed if he was 'connected' somehow, like a mob or something, but it certainly had that feel. I would have liked to see him get more screen time, as he presented a very interesting character.

Both Weisz and Lynch played their parts well, appearing as sort of helpless women trapped in abusive relationships, who find the strength in each other, realizing that they don't have to be victims. Weisz looked a little off with her bleached hair, but when it was cut short, it looked much better. I still prefer her with dark hair, but she is still an amazingly attractive woman. Compared to Weisz, Lynch has a more understated beauty, a more earthy quality, but equally attractive.

As I said before, the pacing kind of fell off around the middle, and there were some holes in the plot, but it's a fun ride. As far as the ending, I was a little disappointed as I saw it coming. All the threads got tied up neatly, with no surprises. Not a lot of originality, but great photography, with the movie set and filmed in Glasgow, Scotland. I was happy to see a fresh, interesting venue, providing a little extra spice to a decent meal. Along with good photography, I thought the music used really helped create a proper mood for this movie. One thing I really enjoyed about the score was it wasn't intrusive, and fit the scenes very well.

The presentation is in wide screen, and is excellent, along with the audio. There are the basic extras consisting of a trailer, production notes, and bios. A solid movie, but I'd be hard pressed to recommend anyone go out of their way to see it, unless you've got a real thing for Rachel Weisz. (I admit, she was the main reason I bought this) And no, I didn't forget about the dog. Seems I won't be able to get out of this review without mention Pluto (that's the dog's name in the movie), so I will say, for a minor character providing a key element in a number of scenes, he did quite well. I would even go so far as to say his performance was 'finger lickin' good'. (If you see the movie, you'll know what I mean) Also, a number of reviews reference the movie Thelma and Louise in comparison to this movie, but I didn't, as I never saw it. There was so much attention and hype around that movie at the time it came out, I got turned off to it. Maybe someday....

Rating:
Summary: Dorothy & Petula Have A Body To Die For
Review: While this movie had a promising start, it sort of crumbled like a cookie by the middle. Billed as a black comedy/suspense thriller, Beautiful Creatures stars Rachel Weisz and Susan Lynch and Petula and Dorothy, respectively. At the outset we find both women are involved in abusive relationships with very despicable men. Through a chance meeting, Dorothy intervenes, with an usual choice of a weapon, while Petula's boyfriend, Brian, is throttling her, and he is knocked unconscious. Fearful of legal entanglements and repercussions, they drag him back to Dorothy's apartment and try to decide how to best proceed. Brian regains consciousness, and while still suffering from too much drink, he falls and hits his head, ending his own life. This sets up the rest of the movie, as the women have to now deal with a dead body.

Now Brian, who is well off, works for his brother Ronnie, who is even more well off, so the women concoct a scheme to make it appear as if Brian has been kidnapped, and extort a large sum of money from Ronnie, in hopes of using that money to make a better life far away. The scheme doesn't go as planned, as a crooked cop gets involved, along with Dorothy's boyfriend, to which they both develop plans of their own. Complications abound, as the women try to stay on top of things, but eventually just end up riding out forces beyond their control.

I thought the actor who played Ronnie was especially good, presenting a calm yet menacing character, someone you wouldn't want to upset. He presented a very controlled exterior, but underneath you knew he was a dangerous man capable of providing a great deal of pain to those who crossed him. His concern for his missing brother seemed genuine, but his motivation appeared more to punish those who would dare to mess with him or his family, and restore face to his family name. I missed if he was 'connected' somehow, like a mob or something, but it certainly had that feel. I would have liked to see him get more screen time, as he presented a very interesting character.

Both Weisz and Lynch played their parts well, appearing as sort of helpless women trapped in abusive relationships, who find the strength in each other, realizing that they don't have to be victims. Weisz looked a little off with her bleached hair, but when it was cut short, it looked much better. I still prefer her with dark hair, but she is still an amazingly attractive woman. Compared to Weisz, Lynch has a more understated beauty, a more earthy quality, but equally attractive.

As I said before, the pacing kind of fell off around the middle, and there were some holes in the plot, but it's a fun ride. As far as the ending, I was a little disappointed as I saw it coming. All the threads got tied up neatly, with no surprises. Not a lot of originality, but great photography, with the movie set and filmed in Glasgow, Scotland. I was happy to see a fresh, interesting venue, providing a little extra spice to a decent meal. Along with good photography, I thought the music used really helped create a proper mood for this movie. One thing I really enjoyed about the score was it wasn't intrusive, and fit the scenes very well.

The presentation is in wide screen, and is excellent, along with the audio. There are the basic extras consisting of a trailer, production notes, and bios. A solid movie, but I'd be hard pressed to recommend anyone go out of their way to see it, unless you've got a real thing for Rachel Weisz. (I admit, she was the main reason I bought this) And no, I didn't forget about the dog. Seems I won't be able to get out of this review without mention Pluto (that's the dog's name in the movie), so I will say, for a minor character providing a key element in a number of scenes, he did quite well. I would even go so far as to say his performance was 'finger lickin' good'. (If you see the movie, you'll know what I mean) Also, a number of reviews reference the movie Thelma and Louise in comparison to this movie, but I didn't, as I never saw it. There was so much attention and hype around that movie at the time it came out, I got turned off to it. Maybe someday....