Review No.76: Bel Ami

We return to France next as we resume our world tour however we also have to hop into the time machine as Bel Ami takes up to Paris of the 19th century. The film is yet another attempt for Robert Pattinson to make a name for himself outside of the Twilight franchise after the blah Remember Me and circus romance Water for Elephants the latter of which I rather enjoyed in despite of R-Patz. This time he plays Georges a young man who has returned from the war with nothing to his name but through his relationships with women climbs up the social ladder. Firstly he uses Philip Glenister's kindly newspaper man Charles by moving in with him then exploiting his wife Madeline, played by Uma Thurman, who essentially writes Georges' columns for him. Though this deception is soon spotted the editor notices how Georges collects inside information so appoints him head of gossip so he uses his sexual relationships with a lot of women, included those played by Kristen Scott Thomas and Christina Ricci, to get stories from them to fill up his column. When Charles dies from the typical 19th century illness, which involves large amounts of loud coughing followed by bed sweating followed by a funeral, Georges ends up marrying Madeline however they argue after he finds out that she herself had been conducting an affair despite him continuing to have it off with every woman who drops her dress for him. He eventually divorces Madeline after he discovers she is sleeping with James Lance using his divorce money to charm the daughter of his editor in order to get millions of francs to his name.

Before I start getting critical about Bel Ami I have to say that it is one of the best looking films I've seen this year and it is certainly aesthetically pleasing. Stefano Falivene's cinematography is gorgeously rich bringing out both the glamorous side and seedy underbelly of 19th century Paris which is brought to life by Atilla Kovacs' production design as well as Zsuzsanna Borvendeg's art direction. This is all accompanied by Rachel Portman and Lakshman Joseph De Saram's beautiful score which perfectly highlights each individual scene while Odille Dicks-Mireaux also excels with her design of the female characters' various gowns to the extent that it's a shame when they are ripped off by Pattinson. So onto our leading man who, in my opinion, looks like he needs a sleep and a haircut throughout the film despite him supposedly slipping into the upper echelon of Parisian society in Bel Ami's second act. I feel playing a villainous cad isn't in the range of the former vampire who for me was best as the lovelorn vet in Water for Elephants, and as he's constantly on screen there's no rest from his pantomime techniques in ensnaring the various women around him. Uma Thurman's Madeline is possibly the best character here who is almost able to outsmart Georges and who is the only one of his women who is given any type of character which is a shame for the other talented actresses in the cast especially Scott-Thomas who tries her best with the most underwritten part of the bunch. I feel it was Pattinson's casting that hurt Bel Ami most of all as it takes a special actor to make a villain the likeable protagonist of a film and sadly R-Patz is not that actor. Still everything is nice to look at and there's enough naked flesh on display to appease both of the sexes I just feel more could've been done with a more talented young actor at the film's centre but then I suppose it wouldn't have made as much money.

Verdict: All style and no substance with a very ordinary leading man tasked with creating a multi-layered central character the fact he fails means I can only give this one 6/10