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Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

I know everyone hates when people say "the book was so much better." But in this case, it was, to some degree. While the books portray the leads as much younger (8-9th grade), the story telling is much better. They inserted things into the movie which did not push the story line forward and were blatantly unnecessary. To make it worse, they left out key scenes, meaning giant holes in the plot. AND... they completely changed the end. All of this did not make the movie better or more dramatic or easier to film. It took away from the story in a way that was unfair to the author. If you're interested, it's actually 2 short books. I read them both in a day. The Kendra Chronicals. Beastly and Lindy's Diary. You're meant to start with Beastly, then pause and read Lindy's Diary, then resume and finish Beastly. Even if you've seen and enjoyed the movie, I promise - you won't see the real ending coming. Together, they are only about seven dollars on Amazon kindle. So worth it. Because the characters are a little younger, some of it seems quite juvenile, and rightly so. But their motivations are much more powerful and it makes for a compelling, if short, read.

Beastly (2011): Dir: Daniel Barnz / Cast: Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Hudgens, Mary-Kate Olsen, Neil Patrick Harris, Lisa Gay Hamilton: Visually well made modern version of Beauty and the Beast that regards attitude and oversight. It stars Alex Pettyfer as a handsome popular student running for student President but his campaign is all about praise towards outward beauty while trash talking those whom he sees as ugly. A witch for whom he mocked repeatedly puts a curse on him and he is transformed into a hideous being. He is informed that he has one year to find true love or he will remain this way. Director Daniel Barnz is backed by fine locations, sets and makeup on the hero. Unfortunately the screenplay is too corny and leaves one to desire the effective Disney animation. Of the cast only Pettyfer seems to excel. His vanity and popularity is well established and his stress in his attempts at love are obvious but we all know the outcome and Vanessa Hudgens doesn't help matters. She plays this free spirited student who is sheltered away in the mansion when she and her father are mugged. She is never believable even when she truly loves him. Mary-Kate Olsen steps out of her Full House image to play the witch but the role is a joke. Finally there is Neil Patrick Harris as a blind teacher hired by Pettyfer's father but this role is standard and somewhat dull. Lisa Gay Hamilton has the cardboard role of the maid. Perhaps she should get started and dust off her resume. The idea of creating a modern day version of Beauty and the Beast is fine. The idea of releasing it as a bad circus act is not fine. Score: 4 ½ / 10

... what sort of movie this would have been with different actors? First and foremost this is the kind of script you don't really see much of anymore, especially in teenage rom-coms. It is as much a stage play as a movie script. Percentage-wise, the number of scenes with the same two characters BY THEMSELVES running lines off each other (Pettyfer and Hudgens) is very high. And therein lies the good news and the bad news. The good news is that Director/Writer Daniel Barnes took risks, the kind of risks you can only take when you are, in point of fact, both the director and writer on the production. He placed all his trust in his actors, and gave them lots of room. The bad news is that it doesn't always work. I am not sure where the fault lies -- since with issues of "chemistry" you need something to compare to -- but if I had to guess, I would point the finger at Hudgens. This film was done at the end the very unusual arc in her career when, as far as teen movies went, she was the "it" girl, she was the girl every high school guy would sell his parents to gypsies for. Whether or not she can deliver this promise is another matter. She is cute, she is sweet, she is vulnerable. But that's fine for love at a distance. Love in tight closeups with tricky dialog is another matter entirely. (If you want to see a quirky Disney rom-com done to sizzling perfection, look at THE CUTTING EDGE, also in my reviews, where the characters completely sell the romance from the first scene, to the delight of the audience). A very ambitious effort which never really hits the target.

Well, the speech scene already revealed me it was not a movie to be taken seriously, so from that scene on, I tried to be not so critic on my thoughts. However, "Beastly" doesn't try to avoid any of the genre's clichés, so it becomes hard not to see its plot holes. For instance, we have NO innovation on the "Beauty and the Beast" aspect; it's just another movie showing that beauty isn't everything in your life, and there are things more important than that, like character and honesty. Also, it felt weird that Vanessa Hudgens' character NEVER asked why "Hunter" had such scarfaces all around; I mean, I know it could be a particular thing, but wouldn't she ever wonder that, even for curiosity? Besides, the reasons why those people were living with Kyle didn't convince me; there were plenty of other ways of them getting what they wanted (protection and stuff). It's funny that this movie uses the word "EMO" in the pejorative way-- this is something I wouldn't hear since 2009, at least. The make-up filmmakers painted Kyle remembered me of 2002's "Red Dragon", and honestly, it wasn't visually ugly, just different. I'm giving it five stars in respect for the average cast and for the film's argument, but out of the three remade childhood stories that I've seen, this is the weakest. It's just another silly teen romance out there.