Genres

Visitors Review

collipal-1 2012-05-23 06:08:38

Interesting, but not highly memorable

I was interested in watching Beautiful because I generally likeAustralian cinema very much.As well as other countries, Australia tendsto take the most popular genres from Hollywood, but with a differentand particular taste which makes them seem like something new.And oneof the formulas it best interprets is the "suburban thriller", as wecan see on the excellent films Lantana and Alexandra'sProject.Beautiful counted with all the elements to be an addition tothat group: an unresolved mystery, an idyllic community full ofsinister secrets, and solid performances; but the screenplay hasvarious fails, and even though the final result is interesting, it didnot leave me completely satisfied.The dark side of the suburbs has been a fashionable topic sincemid-20th century, and some filmmakers have used it with brilliantresults.However, Beautiful repeats the most basic features from thesub-genus, and it ends up bringing a simultaneously confusing and a bitpredictable story, where the "surprise ending" is trulyunexpected...but not because it is particularly ingenious, but becauseit comes out of nowhere, at the same time it leads to the destiny I hadbeen suspecting from some time before.Nevertheless, I liked this film, specially because of theperformances.Sebastian Gregory brings a credible and detailedperformance; I hope to see him in more movies.Tahyna Tozzi shows a goodscenic presence and a facility to say pretty much with economy ofexpression.And the underrated Peta Wilson also made a competent work asa housewife.In conclusion, despite the fails from the screenplay, I found Beautifulto be interesting and entertaining, but not verymemorable.Nevertheless, I think it deserves a recommendation, mainlybecause of the performances and the good atmosphere achieved bydirector Dean O'Flaherty.

2012-05-22 22:25:46

Peta Wilson's Performance - Outstanding. Everything else, not so much.

Mixed feelings about this movie. In general, it kind of sucks. But Peta Wilson makes the amazing most of a minor role. Her performance was quite moving. I would recommend this movie on her merit alone. The scene where she explains why she is having an abortion, and the scene in the operating room, were both quite moving. She shows a range of emotions in many different scenes and adept at making her character's motivations clear to the audience. Her role didn't call for such a depth of range, so it's all the more surprising that she put so much into it.Watch this movie, maybe on cable, maybe on DVD, and resign yourself to the expectation of a couple of wasted hours. But look for Ms. Wilson's performance to save the experience.

2012-05-22 01:20:46

Watchable thriller!

Beautiful is a tragic portrait of two teenagers who suddenly and abruptly have come to the end of the innocence and so they give free ride to their power imagination, when a strange situation of three missing girls ignites the intuition of a 17 girl who uses Frank, a shy 15 boy to spy around his neighborhood to peep what's going on inside every home. As you may see the script is far from being original, but the way it presents us the mystery behind doors and the inscrutable tension between father and son and the final bet of Suzy for getting what she wants impulses the level of this thriller to unexpected horizons.Good efforts but far to be a classic of the genre.

2012-05-21 14:17:40

Broken ending = Damaged Movie

Something strange is going on in the neighborhood and it seems like the answer is obvious to one 14-year-old and a girl he obsesses over. The only problem is that she wants to know about it and her answers lead him to believe that she HAS to be right. After a while these things keep slipping into place more and more until, after a while, his crush is gone (the editorial tell yu that much but it happens later in the movie). That's when he decides to try to find out things for himself and when things get really twisted.This movie tries to go out and do some things different and, for a time, it seems like they might be on to a nice little formula. You have the obsessed teen angle with boy-meeting-girl and boy wanting to do anything to please girl, people vanishing, odd people around, and pictures that seem to paint mental phantoms you can stream together. The only problem here is that this drags on a bit and the boy, even if he were dumbstruck, would have to question some of the things that he's asked to do. Then his crush is gone and he is not in a good mood. And that's when the movie really dgoes sideways and forgets what it is about for a moment by answering things in, wel, a questionable way that ties everything together, says something on the world, and crushes a few little heart-shaped wishes that come out of the blue.As I watched this, I did like it. The problem was that the movie didn't know what it wanted to do when it wound down. you could predict the ending if you really wanted to but, really, you won't because its not one of those things you would stream together as cohesive. Could it work? Sure. Does it work? not really. I gave it a 3, meaning I liked it but only that, and that wathcing it was not bad but I'm not going to put on my Beautiful tee-shirt anytime soon.

sioenroux 2012-05-18 13:51:48

Engaging, atmospheric twisted tale

Just want to write a quick note to combat the other comments on here abit. First, this movie isn't TRYING to be "American Beauty" or "DonnieDarko" -- and it certainly isn't trying to be David Lynch. To comparethis to any David Lynch film shows you don't understand Lynch at all.This is an atmospheric thriller. No, the plot isn't ridiculouslytangled and doesn't have countless twists, like many Hollywoodthrillers that seem to feel obligated to throw dozens of red herringsat the audience so that they feel sufficiently fishy when they leavethe theater.But neither is this movie trying to be an over-the-top freakfest like aLynch film. I love David Lynch's style and the effect his films have onme, but this is quite different.This movie was slow and calculated, with plenty of scenes to buildatmosphere -- and thereby deepen the sense of character andenvironment. No, every scene does not advance the plot. Yes, you cantell most of what's going to happen in advance.But for a strange story about a demented youth for whom everything goesterribly wrong, I thought this was wonderful. All the actors aretop-notch, and the cinematography is delightful.A more accurate frame of reference than the above-mentioned movieswould be "Heavenly Creatures," Peter Jackson's tale of the disturbedfantasy life of two girls that explodes into violence. I felt shades ofthat story throughout "Beautiful." If you want a fast-moving,keep-you-guessing thriller, don't look here. You'll be disappointed.But if you want to see a nicely shot, atmospheric tale that slowlyspins out of control, this is well worth your time.

msmith-63 2012-05-17 20:34:51

think a bit harder before you judge - SPOILER ALERT

SPOILER ALERT! The trouble with the earlier reviews of this film isthat the film requires you to think a bit harder about what's going onthan the previous reviewers. True enough, the film is almost cartoonishtowards the end, utterly lacking in credibility. But you have to askyourself whether that's a mistake, or part of the film-maker's overallplan. Well, let's see. The movie begins and ends with a narration bySuzy's mother, talking about the dark and sinister things that aregoing on in the neighbourhood, things that she understands all toowell, even though others don't. Moreover, during the film it becomesclear that she projects what she imagines onto what she sees. Think ofthe scene where she comes into the room when Suzy is dancing andaccuses her of revealing herself to the world. So here is myconjecture. The entire film is the mother's fantasy. I think that thisexplains well why the cartoonish scenes towards the end, which comequick and fast, are the way they are. You're meant to be thinking, 'Oh,come on! This is ridiculous!', but then, when you see that final scene,you're supposed to think 'Oh! Now I get it. The mother is a nutjob andwe've been seeing the whole world through her eyes.'

Saad Khan 2012-05-12 13:11:53

Uneven and All over the Place!!!

BEAUTIFUL – TRASH IT ( C+ ) The concept of the movie is intriguing andsuspenseful but when it ended, everything fell flat on earth. The movieat least achieved in creating the suspense though the ending was reallyconfusing. In the end bringing the whole Satan thing seems reallyimmature. the whole connection between the Trio Killing Girls wasreally Childish. Sebastian Gregory was the only thing worth memorablein the movie. From Accidents Happens to Acolytes and now Beautiful. Hehas proved himself to be a respectable teen actor. I would love to seehim in Hollywood. Tahyna Tozzi looked Hot in Red Swim Suit. Overall,the movie is Uneven and all over the place so simply Trash It!

dschmeding 2012-05-11 23:02:54

A pretty uneven movie

"Beautiful" is one of those movies that can be described with styleover substance. From the DVD Cover (which represents the opening sceneof the movie) on you know the director is into stylish and kind of oddshots. At first I really had big hopes for this but problem with thiskind of mysterious movies is that as soon as the mystery clears up anddoesn't lead anywhere you are left with nothing. Exactly thats what Iwas left with after watching "Beautiful". The odd shots which seemquirky and fresh at first soon begin to annoy you because they justdon't mean anything. You can basically see the final "twist" coming amile away considering we are following a boy who is rather the strangeoutcast and his mother regularly mentioning that he is not living "inthe real world". From here you get a mysterious detective storyrevolving around some abducted girls and a strange house with a ladyconstantly watching through the curtains. There are too manycomparisons with cult movies like Donnie Darko (and scenes like thenight views into the suburban windows and the score sure are close toit) or American Beauty which had an influence on the opening scene andthe odd suburban setting. Anyway just because a movie steals visualgimmicks and obvious sound design from movies like these I don't seemany similarities because the story has no grip and the storytelling isuneven and getting very stretched in the middle of the movie. Theconstant use of strange shots inter-cut with the plot gets a littleannoying and could have been used a little more subtle. Anyway...biggest let-down like in many movies is the finale leaving too manyloose ends especially about the boy and his family. Where the openingscene with the off-screen narration works fine the same element seemspretty stupid in the end. I guess its easy to make a "mysterious" moviebut when the plot clears even if things are left unexplained to makethe viewer think for himself... thats where a movie shows itssubstance. "Beautiful" left me with nothing, not caring about thecharacters and the unexplained parts of the story. So to compare themovie with movies like the fore-mentioned which left the viewer withmany thoughts in his head is far off. Visually interesting butstory-wise a disaster that has far too many lengthy moments.

Robert J. Maxwell 2012-05-05 04:48:09

Australian Suburbs.

Very nicely assembled by the director, Dean O'Flaherty. Misses beinggripping because of the script by writer, Dean O'Flaherty.In its sluggishness, it's slightly weird suburbanites, its focus on ataciturn young boy with his ever-ready camera, and its terrifyingsecrets -- all leading to violence that erupts in blood -- it remindsme a little of "American Beauty," but without the sometimes sly wit. Italso is reminiscent of the superior "Lantana," another Australian filmabout a missing person but filled with the self confidence that thecrew and cast have when they know they're making a thoughtful movie.A girl disappears. She may have run away but Suzy, with her long blondtresses and unlimbered limbs, convinces the puppy-eyedfourteen-year-old Danny that she's been abducted by a serial murder wholives down the block in house number 46. Suzy uses her plentiful wilesto coax Danny into poking around number 46.What Danny finds is a woman who is afraid to leave the house. Herhusband would do "something dangerous" if she left or if she were seentalking to Danny on the doorstep.The neighborhood is pustular with mysteries. Nobody is really happy.But nobody seems willing to talk about the source of that unhappiness.The bloodshed comes just before the secrets are revealed. What I meanis -- it's all secrecy and innuendo until the last ten minutes, then,as in an Agatha Christie story, all is suddenly revealed. It's all overin a twinkling. And while some of what is revealed is improbable, someother stuff is outrageous, unless it's all being made up by thenarrator who takes over to give us the conclusion. There are momentswhen I wonder if I'm unbalanced but I'm a paragon of stability comparedto these ordinary looking folk.O'Flaherty as director is fine. The tension builds slowly throughout.And he takes moments to show us some of the local Adelaide color --mauve blossoms on a bush, a spider web, a centipede. Somehow he turnsthem all ominous.But I wish he'd spared us that nonsensical climax. The pieces of theplot all fall together but the pieces are too fantastic to be believed.Next time, give the guy a good script.

2012-05-04 12:43:15

A very different work

A story is of an American teen being interested in photography more than in basketball, which lead to tragic results when his play-around female teen friend accused him in an improper sexual behaviour. Fun, drama, tragedy mixed in horror sex-peppered work is not-easy-to-find-for-a-purchase on these pages.

Swift_exit 2012-04-25 23:39:30

The dark side of suburban life

despite a few comparisons to 'American beauty' and Blue velvet' thisfilm is definitely not in the same league as those films.it is howevera well constructed thriller from first time director DeanO'Flaherty.'Beautiful' shows us the secrets that hide behind whatappears to be a normal suburban town in Adelaide and how the maincharacter is determined to find the truth no matter how dark thingsmight really be.Apparently this film was made on a low budget but thecinematography and acting by the cast is so impressive that you don'teven notice.I thought the film loses steam near the end but overallthis is a unique film that deserves to be seen by a mainstreamaudience.7 out of ten.

ptb-8 2012-04-25 05:20:16

Donnie Dumbo

Where do I start? Well, basically, see this film for free because youwill want a refund otherwise. Written and Directed by some copycatwannabee film maker called Dean OFlaherty we have a very poor anddeliberately convoluted remake of the collision between DONNIE DARKOand BLUE VELVET, or of you prefer TWIN PEAKS and DISTURBIA.. Thismashed potato with bloodstains is called BEAUTIFUL. The poster evencopies LOLITA. The whole result is just crap. A waste of resources,actors and your time and their talent. It is like some self obsessedactor's studio thesping exercise that should never be filmed. Again wehave some 30 something auteur who simply takes other film maker's ideasand images copies them onto film in his suburb, incredibly andunfortunately Australian film funding bodies put public money into itand we get another pointless ugly cruel stupid and wasteful film thatwill be forgotten by winter. BEAUTIFUL is an insult to film goers(tickets cost $16 in Australian multiplexes) and an irritating waste oftalent and resources. it is not awful-fun like LIQUID BRIDGE or aguilty pleasure, it is simply infuriating plagiarism of moreinteresting themes that got onto a movie screen in the last 20 years.So ridiculous is the so called plot that a narrator has to explain itall in the misty wrap-up. Avoid. You will not be feeling too beautifulyourself otherwise. It even goes for a NATURAL BORN KILLERS newsreelwith HOSTEL tool waving moment. Just terrible.

collipal-1 2012-04-24 06:35:48

Interesting, but not highly memorable

I was interested in watching Beautiful because I generally likeAustralian cinema very much.As well as other countries, Australia tendsto take the most popular genres from Hollywood, but with a differentand particular taste which makes them seem like something new.And oneof the formulas it best interprets is the "suburban thriller", as wecan see on the excellent films Lantana and Alexandra'sProject.Beautiful counted with some elements to be an addition to thatgroup: an unresolved mystery, idyllic characters full of sinistersecrets, and solid performances; but the screenplay has various fails,and even though the final result is interesting, it did not leave mecompletely satisfied.The dark side of the suburbs has been a fashionable topic sincemid-20th century, and some filmmakers have used it with brilliantresults.However, Beautiful repeats the most basic features from thesub-genus, and it ends up bringing a simultaneously confusing and a bitpredictable story, where the "surprise ending" is trulyunexpected...but not because it is particularly ingenious, but becauseit comes out of nowhere, at the same time it leads to the destiny I hadbeen suspecting from some time before.Nevertheless, I liked this film, specially because of theperformances.Sebastian Gregory brings a credible and detailedperformance; I hope to see him in more movies.Tahyna Tozzi shows a goodscenic presence and a facility to say pretty much with economy ofexpression.And the underrated Peta Wilson also made a competent work asa housewife.In conclusion, despite the fails from the screenplay, I found Beautifulto be interesting and entertaining, but not verymemorable.Nevertheless, I think it deserves a recommendation, mainlybecause of the performances and the good atmosphere achieved bydirector Dean O'Flaherty.

2012-04-24 01:42:17

Intriguing and shocking you'll be engulfed in this world

This review is from: Beautiful [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) Originally I only purchased this movie because Peta Wilson was in it but was more than pleasantly surprised to find out the entire cast does a superb job of drawing the viewer into it's voyeuristic fantasy of a troubled Australian suburb. If you have ever wondered just exactly what is going on in all your neighborhood homes after watching this movie you may not want to know!I won't give away any spoilers but I hope the yound male lead in this film makes more movies where he can bring his characters such honesty and realism. Of course Peta was great too in her supporting role. If you like to be drawn into a movie and don't mind getting creeped out a little, "Beautiful" is right up your alley.