Beautiful Creatures

Your Twilight alarm may be screaming at first glimpse of Beautiful Creatures, a supernatural romance between two teenagers-- one human, one immortal-- who long to be together, and express that longing in a lot of gorgeous natural locations while scored to modern pop music. And while the world of Beautiful Creatures is no less absurd than Twilight, filled with witches called "casters" and curses from the Civil War and an all-knowing Viola Davis, it possesses a crucial self-awareness to actually allow you to get in on the fun. It's not always easy to follow the rules of this new supernatural world, but by not getting caught up in the details and exploring the giggly thrill of teen romance, Beautiful Creatures is way more fun than your Twilight-weary soul might imagine.

It starts, surprisingly enough, with the two attractive young leads, both of whom commit to the high emotions of romance without forgetting that they're supposed to be, y'know, enjoying each others' company. Alden Ehrenreich slaps on a syrupy Southern accent to play Ethan Wate, a sweet-natured kid itching to escape his South Carolina hometown, but also stuck caring for his dad following his mother's death. He's drawn immediately to the new girl in town, Lena (Alice Englert), who's staying with her uncle Macon Ravenwood (Jeremy Irons) in a run-down old mansion that everyone thinks is haunted (the connection between Macon and To Kill a Mockingbird's Boo Radley is stated early, one of many hints that Beautiful Creatures is smarter than it looks). Ethan pursues Lena not with smoldering glances but an easy smile and a willingness to look silly, and the imperious Lena eventually softens-- but not before revealing the family secrets that could keep them apart.

You see, Lena is a caster-- the terms for witch used in Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl's novels-- and on her approaching 16th birthday she will be "claimed" for either the dark or light side. In the chaotic group of supporting characters we see both the light side (Margo Martindale in an insane wig, mainly) and the dark (Emmy Rossum's vampy Cousin Ridley), and Lena's own dark caster mother Seraphine comes to town, possesses the body of the local Moral Majority snoop (Emma Thompson) and tries to meddle in Lena's life enough to make her dark transition a guarantee. On top of all that, there's also a curse left over from the Civil War that guarantees that Lena's love for a mortal will make her dark forever. Being 16 ain't easy, y'all.

When Thompson first appears as the schoolmarmish yokel she seems wildly out of place, but when she transforms into Seraphine with one delicious monologue delivered to Irons, she lights a rocket under the movie and delivers its purpose. Yes, all the Southern accents in this movie are awful. Yes, it's impossible to keep track of which caster is meddling with Lena in which way. Yes, there are moments where we peek into Lena's magical world and something completely nonsensical-- like a man with his entire body painted like clouds-- is presented as if we should understand it. But even when Beautiful Creatures is nonsense, it is stylish, captivating, gloriously enjoyable nonsense, with all of its performers well aware of what they're given. Director Richard LaGravanese, seemingly grateful to have assembled this kind of cast, lets his actors cut loose, but all are smart enough not to turn it into a joke. You'll find yourself believing in it all despite yourself; like the Civil War re-enactments featured in the final action scene, it all looks insane on the surface, but has a mighty power to suck you in.

Englert, with her moody eyes and powerful charisma, is an obvious star in the making, but Ehrenreich matches her not in sex appeal, but boy-next-door relatability-- the two of them alone are worth a sequel to dip back into this loony-tunes world. As a South Carolinian I think I finally understand what it's been like for Louisianans to watch True Blood all these years, seeing their culture transformed into something howling and maybe even offensive. I also can't wait to see it happen again.

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Q&A - Maria Bello and Michael Sheen on Beautiful Boy, The Mummy, and the Future of The Twilight Saga

Sean is a senior critic for Filmcritic.com.

In Shawn Ku's Beautiful Boy, a married couple learns of a violent school shooting at their only child's college campus. The twist? Their son turns out to have been the shooter, and has taken his own life at the conclusion of the bloody melee. Maria Bello and Michael Sheen, who play the emotionally devastated parents, called FilmCritic.com to talk about what draws them to a script, how parenthood changes an actor's perspective, and the next round of The Twilight Saga.

Q: This is the first time I've ever interviewed an actor who has played an O'Connell onscreen.

Maria Bello: When did I play an O'Connell?

Q: You played Evelyn O'Connell in the third Mummy movie, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

MB: [Laughs] I forget half of my names in all of my films. But I do remember certain lines from different movies, which will come back to me at random times.

Q: When you contemplate a serious project like this, where you know the subject matter is going to be emotionally raw and complicated, what are you looking for in the script? Is it honesty? An emotional attachment?

Michael Sheen: Oh, it's all of it, really. The first thing, when I read the script, is that I need to care about what happens and feel compelled by the story and engaged by the characters. It needs to resonate with me, even if what the characters are going through is not something that I have experienced in my life. I have to feel like it has some sort of meaning to me. And then, as an actor, I need to feel like it is going to challenge me. And finally it's about finding out the key people I will be working with, from the director to my co-stars. Hopefully all of those things are in the film's favor, as they were in this case.

MB: All it is for me is a gut reaction. It's about feeling connected emotionally to the script. I just know when I am supposed to do certain projects. I received this script maybe a year before we actually filmed it and just knew I wanted to play this woman.

Q: What, specifically, did you want to explore in her?

MB: You know, she's just so emotionally deep, and the script really takes on the human condition. It explores the relationship between this married couple in a very deep way. With the loss of a child, there was so much going on that I found intriguing and was curious to explore.

Q: Do you think you could have played this material as effectively had you tried it before your son was born?

MB: Oh, no. I think that being a mother gives you a whole different take on life, not only in this part but in general. With a lot of the parts I've played, I think that I would have played them a lot differently now that I am a parent. Having my son certainly made me a more compassionate person and, hopefully, a better actor. I always say that the day I had my son I never had been so happy and so sad in my life. I was so in love, but I also realized that I wouldn't be able to keep him from all of the painful lessons that he'd have to learn.

Q: Michael, the scene that resonated with me was you calling your son's cell phone and leaving him a voice-mail message after he has died.

MS: You know, that was the end of the first day of filming.

Q: It felt so real, how your character just wanted to hold onto a physical reminder of his son.

MS: It was a difficult scene for me as well because, as you are saying, it is such a powerful idea. For my character, his son's voice was still a living thing. It is still alive. So to get a sense of the life in that scene -- it wasn't a photograph or a handwritten letter. It is a living voice. And so because I was aware of what a powerful idea that was, it was hard not to be affected by that in the wrong way. I didn't want to give it too much emphasis or to play it as too heavy of a thing. But it was, and is, a very powerful scene.

Q: Michael, have you wrapped your work on The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn?

MS: Oh, yes, I finished a long time ago, and I think they finished the entire shoot not too long ago.

Q: Are you ramping up for the big publicity push for that film?

MS: The last time, I did the L.A. junket. I think, obviously, Rob [Pattinson] and Kristen [Stewart] do a lot more than I have to do. But I guess it will be the same this time around. I'm really looking forward to it.

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Beautiful Boy

For tragedy to be really effective onscreen -- modern-day tragedy, not the Shakespearean stuff -- it needs to be steeped in reality. Lose any part of the illusion, and the power gets sapped. That's the problem with this mourning-couple drama, the story of a troubled man and woman dealing with their son's unthinkable death. We're supposed to get inside their grieving heads, but distractions abound. Newcomer writer-director Shawn Ku, known for his 2004 short, Pretty Dead Girl, has plotted his very serious film with far too many dips on the believability chart. From obvious dialogue to poorly prepared surroundings, it's tough to feel emotionally invested in Beautiful Boy.

Ku begins hanging out on the fault line of a marriage in the process of cracking. We quickly piece together that quiet husband Bill Carroll (veteran character actor and Tony Blair expert Michael Sheen) is itching to find his own apartment while wife Kate (Maria Bello) feverishly plans a vacation in the hopes of holding together their shaky family of three. When the couple learns there's been a shooting massacre at their son's college, Kate panics. When they discover their boy is the shooter and that he's taken his own life, their teetering life flips over.

The requisite rollercoaster ride follows, one of terror, denial, blame... the ups and downs are too predictable to be interesting, so the execution is all we can hope for. But the script, co-written by Ku and Michael Armbruster, doesn't provide the shining moments a film of this genre requires, the kinds of scenes whose uniqueness and flavor demand attention. There needs to be a good deal of research to get it right, but that level of depth and understanding doesn't seem present.

Ku attempts to capture the smaller emotional details -- in a single long shot, Bill expresses surprise to learn a pleasant outdoor odor is coming from nearby flowers, not his wife -- but the film tries too hard to capture a natural, voyeuristic feel. There's a forced energy that favors style over sincerity.

When Ku wants us to get jostled in the midst of Bill and Kate's conflict, the cliched movie-ness is unavoidable, as ridiculously tight, handheld shots push in between the couple. Yes, it's intended to feel chaotic and disorienting, but it overwhelms the actors' efforts, keeping us from caring about what's actually being said.

The lead actors do what they can to keep Beautiful Boy afloat. Sheen gives Bill as much of a character arc as possible, from callous, tight-lipped husband to weeping sinner; Bello's surprisingly thin role is challenging enough, but she doesn't have the subtle chops required.

Either way, both players are in on the put-on. When Bill and Kate share vending machine food while holed up in a motel room, the effect is unintentionally goofy, Bill trying to steal a laugh by presenting the meal as a gourmet treat. The filmmakers are shooting for vulnerability and emotional desperation, but the set-up is too contrived and immature to feel whole.

Even the goings-on within the film's perimeter are false. Bill's co-workers stare at him as if he were an insane hyena. TV news reports feature brutally bad secondary players spouting horribly inauthentic lines. Even Meat Loaf, a recent one-man circus on network TV and never known for his ability to blend in, has a couple of scenes that take reality on a detour once again. At a time in which reality should be left alone. Beautiful Boy should be many things: revealing, insightful, thought-provoking, emotionally fulfilling. Instead, it's just sad.

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