The Agency's Posts

Brad Pitt is riding high with his '12 Years a Slave': Just a few months ago,Brad Pittand his production company, Plan B Entertainment, were being....
Read More>

Fall/ Winter at Model Moves Bootcamp!: Time to get into gear and get your modeling career....
Read More>

Alec Baldwin's past reveals hidden gifts for new MSNBC talk show: What,Alec Baldwinhost a talk show? The former"30 Rock"star is far too shy and....
Read More>

Errol Flynn's final days chronicled in 'Last of Robin Hood': Toronto Film Festival: With Kevin Kline as the faded swashbuckler and Dakota Fanning as Flynn's....
Read More>

'Riddick's' Vin Diesel flexes muscle behind the scenes too: It's been a long road to creative control over the sci-fi film and the 'Fast & Furious'....
Read More>

Ron Howard's 'Rush' zooms in on racing daredevils' rivalry: The Filmmakers: The heated competition between Formula One racers James Hunt and Niki Lauda was....
Read More>

Matt Damon Defends Ben Affleck's Batman: 'You Know, He's Not Playing King Lear': Matt Damon to the chattering geek class upset about Ben Affleck playing Batman: How do you like....
Read More>

Album review: John Mayer's redemptive 'Paradise Valley': Close your eyes. Erase your mind. Forget aboutTaylor Swift,Katy Perryand the various....
Read More>

Movie review: 'Closed Circuit' cranks up paranoia over Big Brother: John Crowley's timely thriller starring Eric Bana, Rebecca Hall and Julia Stiles about government....
Read More>

First listen: Eminem's 'Berzerk': Where doesEminemgo after he's already done the regal, serious comeback album? By August....
Read More>

Tina Fey says she's become 'human napkin' for two daughters: Tina Feyis having a rough time at home now that"30 Rock"is over. Fey, 43, a writer....
Read More>

New Commercial Print Class!: Happy August! Fall is around the corner and we are....
Read More>

Box office: 'The Butler' continues to lead as 'World's End' begins: "Lee Daniels' The Butler" continued its strong showing at the box office on Friday,....
Read More>

MTV Video Music Awards: A show of extremes: Were the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, which aired live Sunday night from theBarclays Centerin....
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