"Bel Ami" Review by Coventry Telegraph

"Bel Ami" Review by Coventry Telegraph

(15, 102 mins) Romance/Drama. Robert Pattinson, Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Christina Ricci, Philip Glenister, Holliday Grainger, Colm Meaney, Natalia Tena. Directors: Declan Donnellan, Nick Ormerod

ROBERT Pattinson hones the mournful pout of his vampire from the Twilight saga in this tepid adaptation of the 19th century novel by Guy de Maupassant.

He dabbles with the dark side once again, playing an amoral journalist who clambers up the social ladder in Belle Epoque Paris by sleeping with neglected wives and daughters of the men who wield power.

It's another valiant attempt by Pattinson to step away from his signature role as brooding Edward Cullen but directors Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod will be hoping that older tween audiences flock to this lustful yarn.

The promise of copious sex and a shirtless male lead should guarantee decent box office returns this weekend but the lack of palpable eroticism on screen quickly dampens our ardour.

If Bel Ami is hoping to arouse passions like Dangerous Liaisons, it fails, lacking a script laden with tantalising sexual promise or tour-de-force performances from an impressive ensemble cast.

Georges Duroy (Robert Pattinson) harks from lowly stock and arrives in 1890s Paris with barely two francs to rub together.

He is taken under the wing of friend Charles Forestier (Philip Glenister), who lands the ambitious upstart a position on a newspaper and introduces him to the elegant drawing rooms where his wife Madeleine (Uma Thurman) and friends Virginie Walter (Kristin Scott Thomas) and Clotilde de Marelle (Christina Ricci) hold court.

Dressed in a jacket paid out of Charles's deep pockets, Georges surmises that if he is to gain a foothold in polite society, he must seduce these women and exploit their influence.

Source => Coventry Telegraph / Via => Spunk Ransom