Great acting. Simple plot. This is a small budget film with big actors that is destined for failure but actually shows up, greatly. Ahead of its time. This is a watch about 6 times a year film or anytime you think of love. Give it a chance, with an open mind, and you'll be thankful you did.

Beastly (2011): Dir: Daniel Barnz / Cast: Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Hudgens, Mary-Kate Olsen, Neil Patrick Harris, Lisa Gay Hamilton: Visually well made modern version of Beauty and the Beast that regards attitude and oversight. It stars Alex Pettyfer as a handsome popular student running for student President but his campaign is all about praise towards outward beauty while trash talking those whom he sees as ugly. A witch for whom he mocked repeatedly puts a curse on him and he is transformed into a hideous being. He is informed that he has one year to find true love or he will remain this way. Director Daniel Barnz is backed by fine locations, sets and makeup on the hero. Unfortunately the screenplay is too corny and leaves one to desire the effective Disney animation. Of the cast only Pettyfer seems to excel. His vanity and popularity is well established and his stress in his attempts at love are obvious but we all know the outcome and Vanessa Hudgens doesn't help matters. She plays this free spirited student who is sheltered away in the mansion when she and her father are mugged. She is never believable even when she truly loves him. Mary-Kate Olsen steps out of her Full House image to play the witch but the role is a joke. Finally there is Neil Patrick Harris as a blind teacher hired by Pettyfer's father but this role is standard and somewhat dull. Lisa Gay Hamilton has the cardboard role of the maid. Perhaps she should get started and dust off her resume. The idea of creating a modern day version of Beauty and the Beast is fine. The idea of releasing it as a bad circus act is not fine. Score: 4 ½ / 10

Well that's a shame because the book was pretty good. This was just a terrible movie on all counts, bad acting from the two leads (well, everyone involved actually) cliché story -even for a teen drama with this somehow ending up feeling more like a TV show than a movie. I also didn't care for Kyle's beast makeup, it was way over the top and honestly never did figure out how he explained his changes to his father? The story also jumps around with serious continuality issues, I mean you know what's happening and why but it just felt rushed and didn't flow properly. On the plus-side I did enjoy (surprise) one of the Olsen twins as the witch and Neil Patrick Harris's blind character gave me a couple of smirks that never developed into laughs. 6/4/14

... what sort of movie this would have been with different actors? First and foremost this is the kind of script you don't really see much of anymore, especially in teenage rom-coms. It is as much a stage play as a movie script. Percentage-wise, the number of scenes with the same two characters BY THEMSELVES running lines off each other (Pettyfer and Hudgens) is very high. And therein lies the good news and the bad news. The good news is that Director/Writer Daniel Barnes took risks, the kind of risks you can only take when you are, in point of fact, both the director and writer on the production. He placed all his trust in his actors, and gave them lots of room. The bad news is that it doesn't always work. I am not sure where the fault lies -- since with issues of "chemistry" you need something to compare to -- but if I had to guess, I would point the finger at Hudgens. This film was done at the end the very unusual arc in her career when, as far as teen movies went, she was the "it" girl, she was the girl every high school guy would sell his parents to gypsies for. Whether or not she can deliver this promise is another matter. She is cute, she is sweet, she is vulnerable. But that's fine for love at a distance. Love in tight closeups with tricky dialog is another matter entirely. (If you want to see a quirky Disney rom-com done to sizzling perfection, look at THE CUTTING EDGE, also in my reviews, where the characters completely sell the romance from the first scene, to the delight of the audience). A very ambitious effort which never really hits the target.