Beautiful Creatures

Movie Title--  Beautiful Creatures

Release Year--  2013

Running Time--  2 Hours and 4 Minutes

Director--  Richard LaGravenese

Cast--  Alden Ehreveich, Alice Englert,, Jeremy Irons, Viola Davis, Emmy Rossum, Emma Thompson, Thomas Mann, Eileen Atkins, Margo Martindale, Zoey Deutch, Tiffany Boone

Ethan dreams of leaving his hometown of Gatlin, South Carolina but when the mysterious Lena arrives in the town, he helps her to discover who she really is and uncovers the secrets of their pasts.

Ethan Wate (Alden Ehrenreich) lives in the small town of  Gatlin, South Carolina and can't wait for the day he can leave.  He enjoys reading banned books and describes a dream that he has every night; a young woman that he doesn't know, in period dress and he can never catch a glimpse of her face.

On the first day of his junior year of high school he notices new student Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert) and feels an automatic attraction to her because she resembles the girl that he is dreaming about.  The other students don't like her and spread ugly gossip around pertaining to her uncle Macon Ravenwood (Jeremy Irons).  As she listens to the girls accuse her family of being devil worshipers and accuse her of being a witch, she causes all the windows in the classroom to shatter.  That day as he drives home in the rain, he sees her at the last moment standing in the road due to her car being broken down.  He gives her a ride and the two of them bond over their love of poetry and the loss of their mothers.  He drops her off but returns to give her a locket that he has found.  As their hands touch, the two of them are sucked into a flashback of a girl and boy during a battle of the Civil War.

Lena's uncle Macon disapproves of the young couple's love and insists that they stay apart.  Despite Macon's warning to stay away, Ethan continues to pursue Lena and soon learns that she is indeed a witch, although she prefers to be called a caster.  Lena tells Ethan that on her 16th birthday her true nature is to be revealed and she feels that she will be claimed by the dark.  Ethan insists that she is the only person that is responsible for her fate and that she has the power to be light.  Together they start to uncover the secrets that have been hidden in their past and try to find a way to stay together.

I did not like this film.  It was an angsty teen film that was supposed to have adult and intellectual dialogue and it just came off overblown and too "smart" for it's own good.  The story was simple and yet confusing at the same time and I found myself not paying attention from time to time, unable to keep my focus on what was happening in the film. 

Alden Ehrenreich did a pretty okay job but his southern accent was just plain horrible.  He tried way too hard to get it right and instead it was just laughable.  If they wanted a southern boy for this role they should have picked one instead of just hiring a guy they thought would be good and hoping that he could get the accent right.  I hated the character of Lena.  She was at times just a downright bitch and honestly, I didn't really understand why Ethan kept going back to her.

I say, skip this film.  There are way better supernatural fantasy films out there, hell, the "Twilight" series films were better than this one and based on general reactions to that series,  that isn't saying too much about this film.  Find something better to do with the two hours it takes to watch the film.  Whatever you do, Don't Forget the Popcorn!