A chronicle of a young man's rise to power in Paris via his manipulation of the city's most influential and wealthy women.
George is a hollow character, but it is a shame that the film is too.
The result is a piece that’s diverting enough to look at, but doesn’t quite seem to know what its own point is.
Even with a strong cast to gild its endless chambers and salons, there's barely a spark of soul to fuel its story. Pattinson is no Malkovich either.
A good-looking yet curiously tame adaptation of a saucy classic that showcases Pattinson’s ambition if not his full abilities.
First-time film-makers Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod have directed mostly for the London stage, and it shows in their attentiveness to character, but also in the stateliness of the film’s pace.
For all the lofty themes hinted at in Bel Ami, it’s ultimately little more than a tepid bodice-ripper.
The directors give the story a barbed conviction and the female players, especially, act to the hilt.
The picture is handsomely staged and easy-on-the-eye but never establishes a fluent pace or tone, while the general point of the story escaped me.
More fair-weather friend than fine friend.
Hammily enunciated.
Donnellan and Ormerod, so assured when directing on stage for Cheek by Jowl, struggle with the challenges posed by a period movie.
It will do better than it deserves at the box office thanks to the teen-friendly casting of Robert Pattinson.
Are we meant to sympathise or admire him as he seduces the wives of the great and the good? For three quarters of the running time we don’t know. For the rest, we don’t care.
Nothing deepens; no one gets interesting; and we end right back where we started.
It’s impossible to find anything redeemable about this film: an embarrassing script, laughable performances, uninspired casting, zero development and more shots of Pattinson’s smug face than should be legally permitted. This review comes with a warning: do not see this film.
Is theatrical in all the worst ways, with its poky, cheap-looking sets and exaggerated performances pitched at the back row of the upper circle.
Something is missing, and that is Maupassant's acute and detailed social observation.
Though the film creaks badly at times and succumbs to staginess at the drop of a lace hanky, everything at least looks the part.
Robert Pattinson heads from Twilight to darkness in Bel Ami
Bel Ami directors on moving from stage to screen
A heady mix of Twilight and a brave new dawn
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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