Beastly

2011

Beastly

Critics Consensus

Fundamentally misguided, poorly written, and badly acted, Beastly adds little to the legacy of its timeless source material.

20%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 93

48%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 58,070

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Movie Info

Beastly is an edgy teen romance about learning how to see past false surfaces to discover true inner beauty. Kyle Kingson (Alex Pettyfer) has it all - looks, intelligence, wealth and opportunity - and a wicked cruel streak. Prone to mocking and humiliating "aggressively unattractive" classmates, he zeroes in on Goth classmate Kendra (Mary-Kate Olsen), inviting her to the school's extravagant environmental bash. Kendra accepts, and, true to form, Kyle blows her off in a particularly savage fashion. She retaliates by casting a spell that physically transforms him into everything he despises. Enraged by his horrible and unrecognizable appearance he confronts Kendra and learns that the only solution to the curse is to find someone that will love him as he is - a task he considers impossible. Repulsed by his appearance, Kyle's callous father (Peter Krause) banishes him to Brooklyn with a sympathetic housekeeper (LisaGay Hamilton) and blind tutor (Neil Patrick Harris). As Kyle ponders how to overcome the curse and get his old life back, he chances upon a drug addict in the act of killing a threatening dealer. Seizing the opportunity, Kyle promises the addict freedom and safety for his daughter Lindy (Vanessa Hudgens) if she will consent to live in Kyle's Brooklyn home. Thus begins Kyle's journey to discover true love in this hyper-modern retelling of the classic "Beauty and the Beast" story. Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical) and Alex Pettyfer (Wild Child, Stormbreaker) star in Beastly for CBS Films, the film division within CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A and CBS). Daniel Barnz (Phoebe In Wonderland) directed the project which completed principal photography in Montreal in August 2009. The film will be released in theaters in July 2010. Susan Cartsonis (No Reservations, What Women Want) is producing through her company, Storefront Pictures. Roz Weisberg is co-producing. In addition to his role as director, Barnz wrote the screenplay, which is based on the Alex Flinn novel of the same name. -- (C) Disney

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Cast

Alex Pettyfer
as Kyle Kingson
Mary-Kate Olsen
as Kendra
Neil Patrick Harris
as Will
Erik Knudsen
as Trey
Eric Knudsen
as Trey
Dakota Johnson
as Sloan
Lisa Gay Hamilton
as Zola
Vanessa Hudgens
as Lindy Taylor
Peter Krause
as Rob Kingson
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News & Interviews for Beastly

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Critic Reviews for Beastly

All Critics (93) | Top Critics (29)

  • 'Beastly' is a special brand of hogwash: a fairy tale that preaches inner beauty while refusing to obscure the looks of its doomed hero.

    Apr 20, 2011 | Rating: 1/5 | Full Review…
    Time Out
    Top Critic

  • In every aspect, from story to tone to characterization to visual aesthetic, it's laughably perfunctory, as though everyone involved were too embarrassed to give it more than a half-ironic token effort.

    Apr 4, 2011 | Rating: D-

    Tasha Robinson

    AV Club
    Top Critic

  • Beneath it all, however, is a movie with a good heart.

    Mar 25, 2011 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…

    Rafer Guzman

    Newsday
    Top Critic

  • Stunningly bad.

    Mar 5, 2011 | Rating: D- | Full Review…

    Adam Markovitz

    Entertainment Weekly
    Top Critic

  • Teens convinced that a pimple will kill their social life will find Beastly bracingly honest. It's the cynicism, not the phoned-in uplift, that works in this JV Grand Guignol.

    Mar 4, 2011 | Rating: C

    Amy Nicholson

    Boxoffice Magazine
    Top Critic

  • For a fable about a magical curse, "Beastly" is strangely earthbound. And once it starts, it just seems to go on sappily ever after.

    Mar 4, 2011 | Rating: 1.5/4 | Full Review…

    Stephen Whitty

    Newark Star-Ledger
    Top Critic
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Audience Reviews for Beastly

  • Sep 26, 2016
    A bloke has a curse placed on him where he learns that instead of being mean, he can be creepy. Absolutely nobody on the planet would behave like a single one of these characters, and if that weren't the case, this movie would still suck. Gets the extra star for LisaGay Hamilton & Neil Patrick Harris who, though still ridiculous, are at least endearing. (Also he's way hotter as The Beast).
    Gimly M Super Reviewer
  • Dec 01, 2013
    A bland adaptation of a timeless literary classic. Still, Alex Pettyfer was so hot.
    Maymay A Super Reviewer
  • Nov 11, 2012
    Another film that appears to have been snatched out of the pages of a high school girl's journal. Immature characters with vapid character development -- which is particularly problematic when teenage character development is the whole point of the film. And that Olsen girl?! Awful! Stick to lunch pail modeling, Mary Kate!
    Christian C Super Reviewer
  • Jun 23, 2012
    So awful. The championing of superficial qualities in the script is overbearing and cliche, even for high school students. Alex Pettyfer is just a pretty face, and Vanessa Hudgens is so hipsterly twee.
    Alice S Super Reviewer
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