If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Good concept, poorly executed.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Reading other reviews I think this was an advantage - I brought no baggage, had no expectations.Although set in Paris in the 1890s, the theme - handsome poor young man on the make via the wives of powerful men - is surely universal and timeless. If you have an inkling of what is involved then I think the story, the direction and the performances appear to be in perfect synchronism.There can be few, if any, attractive women(and later, wives), who have not been "hit on" by a charming young chancer trying his luck: the bell-boy, the courier, the pool attendant. Indeed for the three attractive leading ladies in the cast, this aspect of the roles perhaps did not require any great leap of imagination and each was excellent. But Robert Pattinson, I thought, brought special talents: the ability to transform himself, even in manner of walking, from coarsened penniless former soldier, desperately grateful for the slightest break, to smooth coldly determined scheming operator. Also Pattinson has a perhaps unique talent for subtle changes of expression including gloating and coldly observed horror and brutality. Unsurprising that he is associated with vampire roles.There is horror and extreme brutality - not gore-fest but psychological in the film. Kristen Scott-Thomas, the faithful, pious, virtuous middle-aged wife goes against all her principles for the believed love of the handsome young seducer. The sudden revelation that she has sacrificed absolutely everything she values to find that, worse than mere betrayal, she has been used, used just as a temporary stepping stone to get access her daughter - and even that just as a way of accessing her husband's wealth and power. That she had not, as she fervently believed, entered an Indian summer of mutual passion and adoration but a permanent winter of loneliness, disgrace, public humiliation and alienation from those closest to her. There is an terrible piling high of utter disaster on a hitherto content good woman. The effect is rightly portrayed as being utterly shattering. One could understand that she would have rather have suffered a gory death than to have learned these awful truths. Pattinson's vampyric expression communicates something more than just unconcern and lack of regret. Earlier he had sat with another wife who has become his lover at the bedside of the fretting dying husband who fully knew of their affair and vainly hoped to live and confound both doctors and his wife's lover's vaunting ambitions.Our young hero does shed a tear for the husband who once was good to him. He is not a psychopath, he does have some residual feelings but his ruthless ambition easily over-rides any qualms. What Guy de Maupassant additionally provided is a powerful story of rot, corruption and collusion between politicians and a newspaper owner. It is a story for our times, perhaps for all times.

I stumbled upon this movie on Netflix and have watched it several times since my first viewing. All the actors did justice to their parts and the story progressed at the pace it was intended. Rob Pattinson was sexy and convincing as the desperate social climber who put his heart on the back-burner to achieve his goal. Uma Thurman down plays her sexiness yet turns on the sex appeal and ice cold stoicism perfectly. Christina Ricci has matured into a beautiful woman and excels as a character actor. She convinced me as the lady in public, whore in bed. Kristin Scott Thomas did wonderfully as the sex starved proper lady of her time but was out shined by the aforementioned. Special moments for me: Rob P's character taking Christina R's character to his flat for their first encounter and his feeble attempts of decorating his "dump" with paper lanterns. Another beautiful moment was brief but he and Uma, after they were married...in the hallway...he was so enamored by her; she took his breath away. You'll know when you see it. Another peek into his character's heart is the flowers. Rob P. shows himself as an actor with great potential, although he excels in this movie. He is subtle yet convincing. The entire cast shines. Fun romp of a movie.

'Bel Ami' means 'Beautiful Friend' in French which was based on more than 100 years-old French novel of the same name. It tells the story of a poor ex soldier who is promised to get him a new and better job in Paris by his ex army fellow. Actually he's not meant for that job but the way he uses his new friends to accomplish his fortune is the rest of the story.There is a quote that we all know very well which says 'Never judge a book by its cover' and it's a perfect match for this title, don't judge this movie after reading rating and reviews from movie database sites. It is better than what they have said, of course the theme was influenced by adult relationships, secret affair and sex. But the way it was handled was nice I mean I am saying it was not disturbing story on that topic.The movie had a fine cast, everyone was up to their best. The cinematography was fine, the costumes were very nice, of course performances were excellent and I still don't know what let the movie fall apart as far the critics concern. For me it was a fine piece of period drama with good story and presentation.

1890 Paris. Life is carefree. For a moment, I thought I was back to the great "Moulin Rouge," (1952) with Jose Ferrer and Collette Marchand along with Zsa Zsa Gabor.The story is basically that behind every man is a woman of power who can make or break him.There are certainly plenty of dangerous liaisons here. Infidelity is rampant. It's almost an accepted practice in life with the exception that it can cause talk when an inheritance situation arises.Robert Pattinson is the penniless fop, he arrives from army service and makes his way up the ladder to success with the women he seduces and who seduce him.Everyone is practically in bed with everyone else. Morality sure doesn't exist in this film. Husbands die and Pattinson is there to replace them, only to get his just reward when his new wife is caught with the foreign minister. He unloads her and makes an alliance with the daughter of the woman he had previously spurned. By the way, there is plenty of government corruption here, but what else is new?