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Bel Ami (2012)

Director: Declan Donnellan, Nick Ormerod

Time Out rating

Average user rating

22 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Robert Pattinson steps into the shoes of antihero Georges Duroy for this lively if muddled adaptation of Guy de Maupassant’s 1885 novel, directed by Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod, known for their theatre company Cheek By Jowl. Duroy is a likeable rogue in a world of scoundrels, an ex-soldier on his uppers in Paris who crosses the threshold of the chattering classes when he meets an old acquaintance, journalist Charles Forestier (Philip Glenister), who introduces him to a web of high-class intrigue that stretches from the boardroom to the bedroom. It’s in the latter that Duroy excels, and he exercises his charms on Forestier’s wife Madeleine (Uma Thurman), and her two friends, fun-loving Clothilde (Christina Ricci) and older, vulnerable Madame Rousset (Kristin Scott Thomas), the wife of a powerful editor.

As a whirlwind of bonking and banquets, ‘Bel Ami’ is diverting and sometimes amusing, and Pattinson is adequate in the lead – pretty enough to convince as a womaniser but with enough of a hint of ambition and a moral vacuum behind the eyes. His scenes with Ricci have an attractive sense of abandon to them, but the other two women make little sense beyond superficial tics. There are serious themes afoot concerning backroom dealing in politics and media, but these are never brought out by Donnellan and Ormerod, who rush through the material with little time for thought and zero sense that anything is at stake. This ‘Bel Ami’ is spirited and sensible but little more than period fluff.

Author: Dave Calhoun

Time Out London Issue 2168: Mar 8-14, 2012

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User reviews of this film

Andrea Cardi said...

Posted on May 27 2012 10:40 As a french boy even though I really like the actor in Twilight I think he sucks in here. Very bad acting, specially because in the book you understand George since everything happens from his perspective but in the movie there is no way the viewer can guess how the main character is feeling specially with the bad acting RP showed in this movie. Overall I thought it was the worst movie I have seen in ten years.

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trevor said...

Posted on May 20 2012 01:30 Pablo, you may say that the Battle of Algiers (1957) comes almost seventy years after the setting of Bel Ami, but not, surely, "almost a century later"

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bil said...

Posted on May 16 2012 15:51 A good-looking film - I loved the costume and settings - but as a story very disappointing. I was left wondering what possessed the women to fall into bed with Duroy. In the book Duroy is animalistic in that he responds to situations, and as Mme Forestier shrewdly remarks, sex is to him an appetite. The book is entirely from his perspective, and I wonder if it can work as a film without trying to give Duroy an agenda, as some have done, or leaving him blank as this film does. As for the pruning of the plot - the book is a lot more than a bodice-ripper, and on this level too the film disappoints. Put those two problems together and you have a bodice-ripper with a hero who does not look as if he would have anything the women would want enough – just not believable. Verdict: vastly better than the black and white version – but catch the recent French TV version for something really interesting (a believable Duroy, even if one with a different character from that of the original).

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Rodrick said...

Posted on May 13 2012 09:49 Satisfying overall, with special mention to the brilliant original music score and the magnificent costume disign.

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Ian said...

Posted on Mar 18 2012 10:52 France in the Maghreb is a topic where there must be as many stories as Britain in India. One of cinemas iconic scenes is where the Marseillaise is sung loudly and proudly in Casablanca when the Nazis are in the cafe.
The Nazis and Rick are all "guests" of the Vichy regime in Casablanca where Rick and Inspector Renault have one of cinemas greatest male relationships.

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pablo said...

Posted on Mar 18 2012 07:19 Indeed Ian. It is worth mentionning that the Battle of Algiers is at the other end (almost a century later) of the time frame which starts with Bel Ami.

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Ian said...

Posted on Mar 17 2012 22:52 Alistair & anyone else who wants to learn more about France in North Africa could do worse than see Gillo Pontecorvo's film the Battle of Algiers.

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alastair said...

Posted on Mar 17 2012 10:10 I thought this was a great film, all performances were excellent, and it made me want to read the book to understand the nuances, and to know more of the history of french exploitation of africa.

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pablo said...

Posted on Mar 17 2012 09:41 Ian you also make assumption about other people, assuming for example they are company insiders because they posted early reviews.
I can only repeat that I really enjoyed the film. What you criticize in Pattinson's performance is actually what makes him great. He's playing a guy who's empty inside, but then people bash him for having an empty look in his eyes???? I really don't get it.
I will agree with you that Liaisons Dangereuses is better, but that doesn't make Bel Ami a bad film.
On the contrary, it's surprisingly dark and relevant with today's politics. I think Pattinson is brilliant.
In my heart of hearts I would give it 3/5 but I feel it is so unfairly bashed I'll had a star. It definitely deserves to be seen.

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Ian said...

Posted on Mar 15 2012 19:24 Elise you seem happy to make assumptions on my behalf so perhaps permit me to respond. I have not read any of the cast or director interviews I viewed this film as a piece of entertainment nothing more nothing less.
I will dwell on two points that seems to have upset you, they are linked.
Firstly regarding the use of cheap actors. I made the point as to how the film would be solld to Hollywood not as a criticism of people's desire to make a film for the love of it.
This film has been compared to Les Liasons Dangereuses because of both the Thurman and the French historical connection. This film is, in my opinion, only adequate compared to that film in terms of script and acting and to be blunt Pattinson is only adequate compared to John Malkovitch.
A second film of a similar type that I believe that this can be compared to is another British made continental historical drama made for the love of it. I am thinking of A Room With a View. I would argue that the female characterisations by Helena Bonham Carter and Maggie Smith amongst others and the male lead by a young Daniel Day Lewis in that film makes the performances in this film look only adequate in comparison.
A review ia one person's opinion not a fact. You are entitled to your opinion just as much as I am.

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scrumpyjack said...

Posted on Mar 15 2012 10:07 A complete surprise. 7/10

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long cat said...

Posted on Mar 14 2012 13:23 A tiresome waste of the hour I sat through this heap. The couple next to me started to snore and I struggled to say alert searching for anything decent in this movie. A high quality cast but torrid story.. Pattinson is usually good in this sort of movie and Ricci usually a delight. Maybe could've worked if the story had been set 21st century London and not Englashmen portraying French in Paris but not uttering a single French word throughout. AVOID

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USMAN LATIF KHAWAJA said...

Posted on Mar 14 2012 01:36 a torture -i have a severe headache and mister calhoun actually liked it -maupassant in the most morbid mode ever with the worst musical score of the year -pattinson cant act if you held a gun to his head and they murdered bel ami in cold blood -poor guy

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JOHN O SULLIVAN said...

Posted on Mar 13 2012 17:59 CHINATOWN IN FROCKS..rpatz as lifeless as a 3000 year vampire a script that would be rejected the carro crew... and KST unleasing her inner Huppert.. merde and not even shiny

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Alessandro said...

Posted on Mar 12 2012 23:13 Bel Ami is probably one of the worst films I've seen in a Cinema. The three ladies in the cast are superb (Uma Thurman, Christine Scott Thomas and Christina Ricci) and really they are the reason why I went to watch this movie. What a big deception. Maupassant's story could have made such a great film. But this doesn't work at all. Characters remain superficial, the depth of the emptiness of this film is epic. Robert Pattinson has the role of the vampire..... but hold on a second: this is not Twilight!

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