andres_echevarria

The movie has amazing actors, director, budget, and script; somehow they managed to make an overall mediocre product.

Even though the storyline is very interesting, it is build up in such a confusing way that the average viewer will be in the dark -or at least unsure of what's going on- most of the movie.

The articulation between scenes is poor, since the makers seem to have tried too hard to make a profound memorable dialogue out of every interaction between characters. This resource resulted in some nice moments but it mostly made the characters too caricaturesque and contributed to the lack of clarity.

My biggest disappointment is the fact that I have great admiration for all of the main actors and the director. It was kind of painful to see them be part of such a forgettable picture.

Although Bel Ami is a novel worth reading, this movie is definitely not worth spending one hour and a half on.

The screenplay is bad, the protagonist casting is bad, the acting overall is quite bad (save a few exceptions), the use of the French language by ALL anglosaxon actors makes the dialogs seem like a baroque joke.

The director didn't even take advantage of the fact that the story takes place in Paris, since there is no remarkable use of the wonderful scenery such location has to offer.

In all fairness, the music is good, fitting and wisely used; and Uma Thurman's performance is always something worth watching. One point for each of those items makes up the solid 2 I grant this title.