Drippy Twilight Easy to Endure
Twilight is more phenomenon then it is movie. Just go to a screening and you’ll see what I mean. Young pre-adolescent, adolescent and even a huge number of post-adolescent girls and women going absolutely gonzo crazy from the moment the titles hit the screen to the point the image ultimately fades to black. Sitting in the theater is a rather surreal experience, the whole thing bordering of Star Wars or Star Trek fanboy craziness (and maybe even surpassing it).
Bella Swan (Kirsten Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) get a little closer in Summit Entertainments' Twilight
This was one of those things I admit to never in a million years anticipating. I knew author Stephanie Meyers’ four novels about a pale-faced chivalrous vampire named Edward Culen and his romance with headstrong Forks, WA teen Bella Swan were popular, I just didn’t know the frenzy for them had reached Elvis or The Beatles-like proportions.
But it has. Robert Pattinson, the young Harry Potter actor (he played the ill-fated Cedric Diggery) tapped to play Edward, hasn’t been able to go anywhere without screaming throngs of female fans following his every step. A recent mall autograph signing session had to be cancelled because of the unruly crowds, while subsequent publicity appearances have generated numerous reports of young girls fainting dead away just from a single glance from their newfound heartthrob.
All of which makes the movie difficult to judge on its own. If I were to be honest, I’d have to admit the darn thing just isn’t very good. While director Catherine Hardwicke does a fine job with all the numerous dialogue moments just dripping in teenage angst and adolescent winsomeness (she did make the fantastic Thirteen, after all, so covering this territory isn’t exactly a stretch), all the action and suspense sequences leave one heck of a lot to be desired. There’s also only so much you can do with the majority of Meyers’ drippy dialogue, a lot of what Bella and Edward have to say to one another too corny even for the likes of “One Tree Hill.”
Watching the picture with a theater full of fans, however, can lead to feelings akin to actual enjoyment. It is almost as if their collective unbridled enthusiasm rubs off on you, and even though you realize the whole thing is unabashed syrup-drenched hooey (as well as more than a bit familiar to anyone even slightly acquainted with a couple of iconic television characters going by the names Buffy and Angel) it can actually be kind of fun.
It helps immensely that star Kristen Stewart is quite good as Bella. As much as I wanted to slap the girl while reading the book, here I admit to feeling genuine warmth for her. Stewart does a wonderful job of grounding Bella, making her actions seem understandable, maybe even unavoidable. I believed the journey she took, felt her love for Edward grow, and even when her whining about potentially joining the undead started to grate (if only just a little) my affections for her simply would not fade.
I tell you what, though, if Summit Entertainment is seriously intent on turning Meyers’ novels into a series of features they are going to have to up the production values something fierce. The whole movie, beautifully majestic Pacific Northwest scenery and sublime Carter Burwell (Fargo) score asside, looks shockingly cheap and artificial. More, it would probably be helpful if their screenwriter spends more then the reported five weeks Melissa Rosenberg (Step Up) got to pound this one out, so much of the dialogue so unintentionally hilarious George Lucas himself would probably find it irredeemably ghastly.
It goes against my better judgment, but I’m going to give Twilight a pass. It isn’t a great film (or even a very good one, for the matter), but I had a good time watching it. Maybe it was the sociological side of things that got to me (watching all those teenagers swoon is strangely fascinating), maybe I was just in a forgiving mood when I watched it, but either way I just can’t seem to come down on the film as hard as I probably should.
Oh, and on the subject of Pattinson? Even under all that hideously caked-on panstick makeup the guy is admittedly pretty darn sexy. While he’s no David Boreanz, watching him über-emote himself into tightly-fisted balls of irreconcilable love-soaked melancholy is hardly a chore. On that front, at least, I kind of embarrassingly admit to knowing just exactly what all the fuss is about. This guy has all the makings of a star.
Film Rating: êê1/2 (out of 4)
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