Beautiful Creatures

I felt like I had to leap to the defence of ‘Beautiful Creatures' after what everyone had been saying about it. I made it my film of the month in my college magazine film pages. I loved it! I think that not only is it a great British film but a great film full stop. I know it only survived two weeks and was slated by the critics. I think perhaps lots of people were put off by the director's claims of it's dark humour and general shockingness whereas in reality (or unless I am unknowingly deeply psychologically disturbed) it wasn't all that bad. It does deserve it's certificate rating though, I wouldn't go that far.

I found it a welcome antidote to the recent deluge of lad's gangster/thriller flicks. It was fresh and much freer than any of those films. With good reason it has been compared to ‘Thelma and Louise' but as far as I can see it has more in common with the Wachowski brothers' ‘Bound'. Susan Lynch and Rachel Weisz were excellent. Their characters of Dorothy and Petula never came close to being your stereotypical man's-eye women. This reversal on the general way of gangster/thriller films was great stuff. The film was unapologetically British, the very British sense of humour was one of it's best points. Americans do not spare our feelings with their cruel characterisations of British people - why do our films have to America-friendly?

I think it's a shame no-one really gave a chance cos far as I'm concerned you've missed out on one of the warmest, funniest and most realistic films.

This film reminds me of Bound or Goodbye Lover but with an british ala Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels style. It was entertaining ,not great but good, with a fair number of twists. 3 1/2 stars out of five.

We finally see the one film that has crawled out of wasted lottery money and it is, indeed, a disappointment. Perhaps foreign audiences who want to lap up anything British will enjoy this badly told tale more than I did. Two not-too-bright girls both have violent boyfriends, one of whom accidentally gets killed as the girls are thrown together and try to help each other. They make maladroit attempts to cover up the murder, which is where things go even more wrong. Wanting so hard to be a black comedy thriller along the lines of Shallow Grave or Blood Simple, Beautiful Creatures is ultimately little more than worthy of mid-week TV viewing.

What I liked about the film "Beautiful Creatures" is that the lead female characters, Petula and Dorothy, are not strong women initially. They have allowed themselves to be dominated by physically, mentally and sexually abusive men. Neither seem to be capable of helping themselves out of these relationships. But, ironically, they each have the ability to help the other. And in helping each-other, they find the strength that had been beaten out of them. Even though the film addresses a serious subject, I found it to be very funny without making light of the domestic abuse issue. Susan Lynch is terrific as Dorothy, the fed-up heroine who comes to the aid of a stranger and finds herself facing murder charges. And "Mummy" fans will hardly recognize Rachel Weisz from her most familiar role as "Evie." Weisz is proving herself to be one of the most versatile actors making films today. There is an uninhibited quality about her performances that make every character she takes on totally believable.

Beautiful Creatures was real fun to watch. It won't really change your outlook on life but will make you happier with the one you have. The plot is ridiculous, the coincidence make you feel like buying a lottery ticket, but it gets you involved. It moves on a pace and the humor is very non-PC but the naughtiness makes it more enjoyable. Susan Lynch and Rachael Weisz are superb actresses and seemed to enjoy the filming and this comes over. It is, however, morally corrupt but that is part of the fun once you switch your morals and brain off (don't try this at home).

Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

Beautiful Creatures is a British dark comedy about these two women who meet up with each other under undue circumstances and plotted a scheme so that they will come out ahead. It is somewhat funny, with most of the males in the film being their enemy standing in their way. Many of them are portrayed as seedy, opportunist or just plain lowlifes. The women eventually somehow overcomes them all. It is similar to Thelma & Louise, but our heroine are not so innocent themselves, and we have a happy ending.