Beastly--A Movie Review

The Movie: Beastly

The Stars: Vanessa Hudgens, Alex Pettyfer, Neil Patrick Harris, Mary-Kate Olsen

The Rating: PG-13

My Personal Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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The world views success in how popular you are, how beautiful you look, how much many money you have...Kyle Kingston (Alex Pettyfer) was no exception. He had a low opinion of most everyone at school, especially those he perceived as ugly. And boy, does he love to express his rude thoughts! His father and local news anchor doesn't discourage his son's behavior; rather, he does the exact opposite. One can only put up with their actions and attitude for so long.

It happens on the evening of a school celebration. Kyle puts on airs with most everyone he knows, although he has glimmers of niceness while around schoolmate Lindy (Vanessa Hudgens), even though the two of them have barely spoken in the three years of being in the same school. However, Kyle is horribly rude to Kendra (Mary-Kate Olsen), one of the oddest dressed people in school. Little does he know that Kendra is a witch in disguise. Pronouncing a spell on him, Kyle has one year to have someone say "I Love You" or else he is going to remain in his altered, ugly state forever.

Dad can't abide what his son looks like, so he sends Kyle off to a home of his own across the city. He hires a blind tutor (played by Neil Patrick Harris) and a housemaid and pretty much, he leaves Kyle to his own advices. The main of which is Kyle observing, and falling in love with, Lindy from afar. When he observes her drug addict of a dad kill somebody, he demands that he protect Lindy from harm in exchange for his silence. The deed is done. Under the guise of someone named "Hunter," Kyle takes Lindy into his home......what follows is the story that we all know so very well.

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Beastly was not something I originally thought I would love. As a friend of mine so aptly put it, it was "the teen thing," and I don't usually go for those types of movies. However, upon the recommendation of a friend, I decided to try the movie. After all, it was a modern retelling of my girlhood favorite Disney story (and who doesn't like those?!) I will say that the movie totally exceeded my expectations; I really, really liked it. I laughed, I got teary eyed, my heart fluttered the tiniest bit, and I received inspiration for another blog post. You cannot go wrong with that!

It wasn't as clean as the animated tale of Belle and the Beast was, however. There is language consisting of s***, h***, d***, and the Lord's name in vain. When Kyle is rude, he is rude! It makes you cringe. That being said, there was NO sexual content, which made it predominantly clean in my eyes. (You see, sexual content and nudity bugs me more than language; that is me being honest with you) Violence is kept to a brief minimum. However, some of you might take offense with two things: 1.) the fact that Kyle goes around quite frequently with his shirt off and 2.) the movie does hinge on a spell. If you can get overlook those, I don't see anything else that will offend.

I see why people initially watched the movie. Its leads are "teen heartthrobs"; it was based on a best selling book. I tend to steer clear of fads until after the fervor has died down. But now, I found a place for it in my own heart--it reminds me of my childhood, just in a reenergized, slightly more grown up, way. I don't think it would be a beastly thing in the least if you did decide to watch it yourself.