Bel Ami - Movie Review

Rating: 3 out of 5

Guy de Maupassant's 1885 novel was first adapted for the cinema in 1919, and yet the story has some intriguing parallels with European society today. On the other hand, this adaptation never finds its tone, and it doesn't give us a single character to care about.

In 1890 Paris, penniless charmer Georges (Pattinson) has a chance encounter with former comrade Charles (Glenister), who offers him a job as a journalist.
Unable to string a sentence together, Charles' wife Madeleine (Thurman) offers to help, but refuses his relentless flirting. Instead he starts a torrid affair with married family friend Clotilde (Ricci). But a taste of the high life goes to his head, and when Charles dies, he makes a move for Madeleine. Or maybe he can get more out of Virginie (Scott Thomas), wife of the newspaper boss (Meaney).

The central question is whether Georges is manipulating people for his own gain, or whether everyone else is actually using him. So the story is a political thriller (a scandal that could topple the government), romantic melodrama (he yearns for each woman in very different ways) and bedroom farce, all at the same time. Yet the more we get to know Georges the more we despise him: not only is he selfish and cruel, but he's also seriously dim. And even though Pattinson gives his spiciest performance yet (which isn't saying much), we never root for him.

Meanwhile, the actresses make the most of their one-sided roles. Thurman oozes confidence as an intelligent woman who refuses to submit to a man's world.
Ricci is sweet as the doe-eyed lover who hasn't a clue what's really going on around her. Scott Thomas is hilarious as the repressed woman who becomes rather unhinged when Georges loosens her corset. Meaney, Glenister and Lance (as a politician) glower nastily through every scene, clearly plotting something villainous.

But all of this gloomy intrigue weighs the film down, never becoming clear enough to engage our interest and distracting us from the much more entertaining romantic chaos. At least the filmmakers have some fun in the bed-hopping scenes, letting the actors add lusty subtext to every glance. If only this light touch had extended through the entire film.

Facts and Figures

Year: 2012

Run time: 102 mins

In Theaters: Friday 9th March 2012

Box Office USA: $0.1M

Box Office Worldwide: $8.3M

Budget: $9M

Distributed by: Magnolia Pictures

Production compaines: Redwave Films, Protagonist Pictures, Rai Cinema

Reviews

Contactmusic.com: 3 / 5

Rotten Tomatoes: 28%
Fresh: 25 Rotten: 63

IMDB: 5.4 / 10

Cast & Crew

Director: Declan Donnellan, Nick Ormerod

Producer: Uberto Pasolini

Screenwriter: Rachel Bennette

Starring: Robert Pattinson as Georges Duroy, Christina Ricci as Clotilde de Marelle, Uma Thurman as Madeleine Forestier, Kristin Scott Thomas as Virginie Walters, Natalia Tena as Rachel, Holliday Grainger as Suzanne Rousset, Colm Meaney as Rousset, Philip Glenister as Charles Forestier, James Lance as François Laroche, Anthony Higgins as Comte de Vaudrec, Thomas Arnold as Louis, Timothy Walker as Solicitor, Pip Torrens as Paul the Butler, Christopher Fulford as Police Commisioner, Amy Marston as Nanny

Also starring: Uberto Pasolini