The Agency's Posts

Busy Chris Rock is Just Itching for Dirty Work: Rick Friedman for The New York Times IN a sumptuous beach-side house here in this coastal....
Read More>

Fall Films: More Bitter Pills Than Popcorn: Jamie Foxx and Leonardo DiCaprio in "Django Unchained." ByMICHAEL CIEPLY....
Read More>

When Beauty Fades: Supermodels as They Age Are Focus of Documentary BOYISH in her gamin crop and tie,Isabella....
Read More>

Review: 'The Well-Digger's Daughter' is fine French filmmaking: Daniel Auteuil's adaptation of the Marcel Pagnol novel is old-school in the most pleasing of....
Read More>

The Big Picture: A message too 'Dark' for all?: In light of the theater rampage, maybe marketing campaigns need rethinking Just hours....
Read More>

Picture Perfect? Well, That's Not The Point: Female Celebrities Are Shedding Their Makeup Fresh-faced Rihanna and the reality-television....
Read More>

Frank Oz speak, but not as Yoda or Miss Piggy: A word to the wise,Frank Ozfans: He won't do that Yoda impression. The 68-year-old Hollywood....
Read More>

New Paladino Casting Workshop!: Do you have the passion, talent, and drive, but aren't landing the jobs youaudition for?....
Read More>

'Dark Knight Rises' opens to estimated $160 million amid tragedy: Though the tragic movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colo., cast a pall on the opening of"
Read More>

Movie review: 'The Queen of Versailles' riffs on American dream run amok: "We went to France, and we saw Versailles" is something plenty of people can claim.....
Read More>

Movie theater shooting: Shaken film industry reacts: After movie theater shooting in Colorado, theater owners review security and Warner Bros. cancels....
Read More>

Review: 'The Dark Knight Rises' more than shines, and on many levels: The third and final Batman movie from director Christopher Nolan is mercilessly brilliant and....
Read More>

Will Gwyneth Paltrow finally get her own 'Iron Man' suit?: Gwyneth Paltrowhas two"Iron Man"films and"The Avengers"under her belt in....
Read More>

Plug pulled on Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney in London: SirPaul McCartneyor no Sir Paul McCartney,Bruce Springsteenand the ex-Beatle were told “
Read More>
'Breaking Dawn review: Vampire tale is lifeless
Posted on: 11/18/11
Share/Save/Bookmark

Sure, the wedding's great, but the latest installment of the 'Twilight' saga fails to address major issues that made the book engaging.

 

 It breaks my heart to tell you that "Breaking Dawn" is broken.

The movie that's carved out of the first half of the last book ofStephenie Meyer's vampires-in-love series, starring Kristen StewartRobert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner, is weighted down by more than its title, to say nothing of the expectations. For the record, it's called "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1," as if 5 billion insanely attentive Twihards wouldn't be able to find it.

Maybe the studio suits have begun to believe the franchise, like the classy Cullen clan, is immortal, that almost nothing can kill it. They'd better hope that last bit is true, because "Breaking Dawn" kinda sucks, in the metaphoric rather than the vampiric sense. The film doesn't have nearly the bite — ferocious or delicious — that any self-respecting vampire movie really should. It's as if all the life has drained away.

Yes, there is the wedding of the century, and no, it wasn't Kim and what's-his-name's. With high school behind her, Bella (Stewart) can marry her stone cold hottie, Edward (Pattinson), finally putting an end to Jacob's (Lautner) werewolf dreams of winning her heart. The wedding is one of the best things about this installment — a slow tease building up to the big reveal — and not easy to do with any drama because, let's face it, anyone who has even a passing interest in "Twilight" or walks by a magazine rack, knows it's all about the wedding. (Again, not Kim's.)

With Bill Condon directing and Bella's sister-in-law-to-be Alice (Ashley Greene) doing all the wedding planning, it is an exquisite, elegant, exceedingly tasteful affair. What is it about vampires that they always have such high-end style? Something in the blood? I ask, because if so, the Red Crossshould siphon some of its stash, run ads in Architectural Digest and develop another revenue stream.

But I digress. So the wedding is superb in its execution, the filmmakers allowing plenty of time to savor it. Still I'd really hoped for more that just a well-polished look from Condon. With his "Dreamgirls" and "Gods and Monsters" background, he seemed a perfect fit for the final chapters of the tale of this dream girl and her godless monster. Such a pity.

The couple say their "I do's," a little till-death-do-us-part irony. And right about now is when the film's unplanned meta-story starts kicking in in ways that are a little distracting, a little weird. If you've kept up with the glossy celebrity magazines since the first "Twilight" movie in 2008, you know that Stewart and Pattinson have been a couple on and off almost from the beginning. And if you believe the tabloids and if photos don't lie, and I surely do and they surely don't, Pattinson is the more smitten of the pair.

So watching Edward watch Bella walk down that aisle, the adoration in his eyes, the relief when she says "yes," the kiss that seals their union — quite honestly it doesn't seem like acting per se (if it is, then it's one of his best performances). And I won't even go into the whole honeymoon night sequence, or the way the actors' on-screen "chemistry" is being marketed, or the mixed-messages it sends to girls about their first sexual experience.

But that's not the film's real problem. What Meyer did so brilliantly in the book (or at least really, really well), and what Melissa Rosenberg's script fails to do, is to mine all the dramatic potential of the symbolic implications of immortality.

The book gives over quite a few of its 756 pages to Bella's struggle with the high price of dying to live forever, especially for her parents, and Edward's guilt about it. And there is barely a mention of the provocative abortion debate — should the vampire-human hybrid created during the honeymoon be "removed" before it kills Bella?

For conflict, we're left with Bella in a few moments of contemplation and consternation — which requires very little from Stewart, an actress capable of so much more. The rest of the tension building is left up to Jacob and his werewolf issues. He goes postal when the wedding invitation arrives, hackles raised, lots of growling, disappearing for days, so that's a real nail-biter…

For those keeping score, "Breaking Dawn" is missing the interesting indie edge that director Catherine Hardwicke brought to the first film. It does not flat line as badly as the second, "New Moon," which would have died without the werewolves' bite. It loses the brief emotional uptick of No. 3, "Eclipse," which saw the cast blossom into actual actors. So in the "Twilight" pantheon, "Breaking Dawn Part 1" is at best a draw. Hopefully they'll fix what's wrong before next year's finale, because I really can't take another broken heart.

betsy.sharkey@latimes.com


COMMENTS
Be the first to post a comment!


Post A Comment:




  • It's 2020! Start booking roles in commercials, fashion, films, theater and more with The Agency Online!

  • NEW WORKSHOP with Barbara Barna & Sean De Simone!

    Hi Everyone and Happy Summer! Sean at Sean De Simone casting and Barbara Barna are teaming up for a super informative and fun Hosting for Home Shopping workshop. A great opportunity for established or experienced TV Hosts and Experts interested in learning how to get noticed and how to get in....
  • MASTERCLASS W. Robin Carus & David John Madore

    A Special Offer for the Agency Community, from one of our favorite NYC Casting Directors! EMAIL FacetheMusicWithUs@gmail.com Or Eventbrite To Sign Up! Class Size is Limited.
  • Don't Fall Into The Comparison Trap

    Hi Everyone! As the second installment in an ongoing series of features by the Agency's amazing community, here's some sage advice from our own Regina Rockensies; a humble (& awesome)veteran we've had the pleasure of working with for a long time. Have an excellent week! : ) - The Agency....
  • One Model's Agreement

    Hi Everyone! As the first piece in an ongoing series of original articles by the Agency community, here's a short reflection on some of the values of professional acting & modeling that we can all keep in mind for our next casting. Good luck on your castings &shoots this week! : ) -....




 
home       castings&news       privacy policy       terms and conditions      contact us      browser tips
Official PayPal Seal