Beastly

Based on Alex Flinn’s novel, Beastly follows arrogant teen Kyle Kingsbury (Alex Pettyfer) as he raises the ire of an honest-to-goodness witch (Mary-Kate Olsen’s Kendra) and is subsequently transformed into a hideous freak – with the film detailing Kyle’s initial efforts at locking himself away from the world and, eventually, his attempts at winning the love of a compassionate fellow student (Vanessa Hudgens’ Lindy). Filmmaker Daniel Barnz has infused Beastly with a surprisingly languid sense of pacing that does, at the outset, prevent the viewer from wholeheartedly embracing the characters or the (admittedly familiar) storyline, with the strength of the various performances proving instrumental in keeping things interesting through the movie’s stagier sequences (ie a good chunk of the proceedings transpire within Kyle’s expansive yet hidden country home). Pettyfer’s charismatic turn as the protagonist is heightened by his obvious chemistry with Hudgens, though there’s little doubt that Neil Patrick Harris, cast as Kyle’s blind tutor, steals every one of his scenes and walks away with the title of MVP. And while the sluggish nature of the movie’s midsection is exacerbated by the questionable inclusion of certain elements from the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale (ie the circumstances surrounding Lindy’s reluctant decision to move into Kyle’s mansion), Beastly benefits substantially from an uplifting, thoroughly satisfying conclusion that’s arrived at without the assistance of a fake break-up (with the dreaded cliché’s absence alone justifying an extra half star for the film). It does, as a result, go without saying that Beastly stands as a cut above other efforts of this type, which effectively ensures that the movie holds as much appeal for non-teenagers as it does for its target demographic.

***1/2 out of ****