It's always hard to trash a movie that is riddled with good intentions. So as tempting as it is, I will throttle back and let the new teen flick Beastly off the hook. But not all the way.
Beastly is another tortured-teen love story that is an interesting enough story in its root form. But Beastly develops so many problems along the way, the holes cannot be overlooked. Beastly is a victim of an idea that may have started off OK, but because of budget, limited appeal and some very green talent on both sides of the camera, it falls flat.
Beastly is the story high school senior Kyle. Kyle is a handsome young man who wins class president, and his election platform is, "the world has no use for unattractive people." His incredibly arrogant demeanor has him cross paths with Kendra. Kendra is some kind of witch who puts a spell on him for one year, making him beastly almost hideous looking. And if no woman honestly says "I love you" to him in one year, his new look will be permanent. If so, he will return to normal. Nice enough lesson learning plot.
He then meets Lindy, and attempts to have her fall in love with him by using various tactics, some successful some not so much. Lindy does not know it's Kyle from high school, but thinks his name is Hunter. So the courting is on, and it's a race against time for Kyle. He must change in every regard. Can he do it?
Being kind and with the target audience in mind, Beastly really suffers from some terrible writing, and acting, and overall awkwardness that is really tough to over come. Teens may really like this movie if they find it. And there are certainly worse things for them to be watching. But Beastly really has more of a feel of a music video, or after school special than a movie house flick. It is exceptionally amateurish at times, and spends too much time tying to be all things to all people and not staying focused on the plot at hand. There may just not be enough story here for a 90 minute movie.
Beastly...is not ghastly... but not good. Good intentions and that's not lost here, but off the mark. Certainly a rental at very best in 90 days.
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