"Beautiful Creatures"

Go see this movie.

Do yourself a favor when you’re considering what to see at your local neighborhood multiplex tonight and choose to see this movie.  Forget about the big action blockbusters or horror extravaganzas like “A Good Day To Die Hard”, “Hanzel and Gretel: Witch Hunters” or “Mama”; those are box office chowder and will stick around for a while.  Forget comedies like “Identity Thief”, “Warm Bodies” or “This is 40”; movies like this tend to offer little or no visual candy, will be barely reduced if at all by watching it on your tv, computer, tablet or even phone when you get around to renting it in 6 to 8 months from Redbox or Netflix. Even the awards season will keep movies like “Silver Linings Playbook”, “The Impossible”, or “Zero Dark Thirty” on the big screen for a while.

However, judging from the nature of the trailer, and the fact that every other movie at the cineplex today seems to be receiving more buzz, more attention, and the fact that my wife and I were only two of four people seeing that movie last night, I doubt that “Beautiful Creatures” will be staying in theatres for very long, which is a real shame. I understand that, at first glance, this movie looks like another supernatural teen romance melodrama, attempting to cajole and mesmerize audiences of the “Twilight” films.  Quite to the contrary, any similarity between this movie and the “Twilight” films is purely coincidental: “Beautiful Creatures” is the precept to which “Twilight” should have endeavored.

The first, and most noticeable element of this film is the setting.  The story is set in a small town deep in the South Carolinian countryside, which the filmmakers expertly capture.  Lush and rich, natural and yet resoundingly unnatural, the 'deep south' has served a hauntingly beautiful setting for many a supernatural film: “Interview With A Vampire” and "The Skeleton Key" in New Orleans and rural Louisiana; “Midnight in the Garden of Good And Evil” and “The Gift” both in Savannah, GA (and “Forces of Nature”, but I think Ben Affleck would prefer we forget that one).

The other most immediate component to the film is the character of Ethan Wate. Ethan is our narrator (at least in the beginning) and one of our protagonists. Ethan's narration quickly sets the stage as a high school junior who has recently lost his mother. While cynical in his attitude towards his hometown, and in spite of his circumstances, Ethan is surprisingly upbeat and optimistic, especially with regard to the prospect of college; Ethan's one chance for escape. As one of the few people in a town full of book-burners who actually reads the books, sympathetic of 'Boo Radley' and an admirer of 'Billy Pilgrim', Ethan quickly curries favor with the audience; an important charge for the protagonist and the romantic lead. Actor Alden Ehrenreich brings just the right amount of subtle awkwardness, ‘aww, shucks’ charm and charisma and smartly tempered drive to the character of Ethan, making him perfect for the role.

Ethan’s love interest is the mysterious Lena Duchannes, whose family, the Ravenwoods, led by her overprotective Uncle Macon (Jeremy Irons), are lambasted by those same book burners which drive the town, of being satanists and witches. Lena is, herself, a malcontent in the best traditions of Winona Ryder in “Beetlejuice” and “Heathers”, and is, we learn fairly quickly, quite the reader of banned books herself.

Ravenwood manor is a character unto itself, in much the same way as '1313 Mockingbird Lane'.  On the outside, the manor looks every bit the part of a deserted southern plantation, decrepit and overgrown. The interior of the manor, however, could not be more divergent from its surroundings. Part metropolitan art museum, part 'Bond' villain secret headquarters, the Ravenwood sitting room and foyer is visually stunning and perfectly out of place. The Ravenwoods themselves are just as eclectic; they make the Addams family seem dull.

The story of "Beautiful Creatures" is, first and foremost, the love story between Ethan and Lena. The story is far more complex, with both Lena's uncle and her mother each conspiring to direct Lena's future (how best to use her special . . . talents), and how those interferences affect Lena and Ethan's love.

As I said, this story is everything that "Twilight" should have aspired to be. Lena and Ethan are far more likable characters than Edward and Bella ever were: more dimensional and better defined; their love story is far more impassioned; the stakes in the challenges they face are far more drastic. The settings and scenery are far more visually stunning than that of 'Forks'. The story is much more involved, and far more full of richly developed characters. For solid comparisons of quality and beauty and depth of character, "Twilight" can't hope to hold a candle to this film; one is better off looking to the body of work of the filmmaker responsible for "Beautiful Creatures".

Screenwriter Richard LaGravenese's career has seen critical acclaim for "The Ref", "The Bridges of Madison County" and "The Horse Whisperer", but his career has spanned from "The Fisher King" to "Water for Elephants". So, not a light weight. His directorial credits are far more sparse, the most well known of which being "Freedom Writers" and "PS I Love You". "Beautiful Creatures", however, is his first 'fantasy' film, and his first big-budget film. All that said and understood, I feel as though this film is a great achievement for him and hope it will be regarded by others as a success.

For all of my praise there was one area which impaired the film for me: an inconsistent narrative.  The narrative is the perspective from which the story is told. This may be from an external narrator, or one of the characters, and in film it may be with or without a voice over. A truly creative narrative may redefine how stories are told in film. Numerous filmmakers have experimented with first-person filming, as well as removing the constraints of chronology from the story, both of which can alter the very nature of the story itself. A poorly constructed or inconsistent narrative can, at worst, confuse an audience to a degree which makes the film unwatchable (I'm looking at you David Lynch), and, at the very least, unveils to the audience an area of weakness for the filmmaker ("District 9"). Many films and stories have been told through multiple narrators ("Dracula"), but when a story changes narrators suddenly and without warning, as this film does on occasion, the results may range from subconscious to jarring and confusing. Fortunately, the changes in the narrative are small and ineffective, but their presence in a film by such a renowned and acclaimed filmmaker appears to me an amateurish mistake.

There are also a number of small details which are left open ended at the end of the film, which may be disconcerting. This is more understandable when realizing that the book from which this film has been adapted is the first in a trilogy. I can only hope they make the other two.

In all, this film is a stunning effort, an intricately woven tale of love and responsibility, of fate and freewill.

Go see it and take a date; you won't be sorry.