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Beautiful Creatures [2001]
![Beautiful Creatures [2001]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51GTAS19QZL._SL160_.jpg)
On the DVD: This is a bare-bones release with brief on-screen production notes, cast and crew credits, a page about Universal's DVD email newsletter and a static menu. The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound locks most of the audio to the centre speaker, though there's plenty of dog-barking all around the room. The anamorphically enhanced 1.77-1 transfer clearly cuts off part of the original image at both sides of the screen and is often, especially in the many night scenes, far grainier than one would expect from a feature film released in the year 2000. --Gary S Dalkin
RRP: £15.99
Our Price: £3.50 (subject to change)
Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
Firmly in the spirit of the late 90s wave of British crime films, Beautiful Creatures stars Rachel Weisz and Susan Lynch as two young Glasgow women united against their brutally abusive boyfriends. With a corpse in the bathroom, a golf bag with a secret and seedy detective on their trail Dorothy (Lynch) and Petula (Weisz) hatch an ill-conceived fake kidnapping as their passport from an impossible situation. The film is an entertaining 84 minutes, but though there are several suspense scenes and some queasily amusing black comedy the TV style direction and generic plot fail to deliver any originality. First time feature director Bill Eagles concentrates on winning strong performances from an excellent cast and referencing The Wizard of Oz (1939) (Dorothy has a dog called Pluto, rather than Toto), Wild at Heart (2000) (watch Pluto and those fingers). Added to these are references to Thelma and Louise (1991), Shallow Grave (1994), Butterfly Kiss (1995), Bound (1996), and the film its title echoes, Heavenly Creatures (1994). Considering the graphic violence against women this would have been a stronger, more honest film had it taken itself seriously. As it is, the fashionable yet often inappropriate humour prevents Beautiful Creatures making any serious point about women's reaction to male violence, the finale degenerating into routine feel-good exploitation.
Beautiful Creatures: Give the men in this movie some credit!
Review date: 2008-06-30 Rating: 8 out of 10
Normally I don't like "dark comic thrillers" like "Beautiful Creatures", but I bought this one because actor Iain Glen was listed in the credits after Susan Lynch and Rachel Weisz. I have seen almost all of Iain Glen's television and movie work, and I think he is a brilliant actor, but I wasn't ready for this kind of a movie. It has to be one of the most unusual and quirky movies I have ever seen.
All the reviews I have seen about "Beautiful Creatures" were about the Susan Lynch (as Dorothy) and Rachel Weisz (as Petula). Yes, but what about giving the male actors in the movie some credit. Iain Glen (as Tony) is the first speaking voice you hear in the movie when the credits are showing, and continues into the first scene, where he is arguing with Susan Lynch (Dorothy) on the train, about his missing golf clubs. Here you see and hear the first hints of the character he is portraying.
Iain Glen plays Dorothy's boyfriend, and his portrayal of Tony, as one of the most "slimy/revolting/drug-addicted/whacked-out/weirdest/bizarre" men I hope I never meet, was a winner. It was also one of the funniest parts of the movie. I have seen Iain Glen play all kinds of characters in his work, but nothing prepared me for Tony!
One of the best scenes in the movie was "Her Boyfriend's Back" where Tony meets Dorothy's new friend Petula. Tony and Dorothy's dog "Pluto", which they say is 50% acrylic, is also involved. It also involves one of Tony's guns, a pair of his briefs, and a necktie. I still laugh every time I think about that scene, because I have never seen anything quite like it. It's hard to imagine a scene both so frightening and hilarious at the same time. Dorothy's boyfriend, Tony, seems to be the creepiest character of all in this entire movie.
Petula's boyfriend, Brian McMinn, is caught being so abusive that he threatens Petula's life, and Dorothy (accidentally?) kills him. Petula's brother-in-law, Ronnie McMinn, is also a very scary guy. The look on his face alone would frighten you.
Petula and Dorothy set-up a ransom for Petula's abusive husband (who just happens to be dead already) with Petula's brother-in-law. The ransom also involves a slimy and corupt detective inspector, who insists on helping, so he can steal part of the ransom for himself. He also creeps into Petula's home one night because he is so taken with her beauty.
In almost the last scene, Petula's brother-in-law runs in to some "gun" problems with the slimy detective inspector who tries to kill him. This scene brings all the main characters together, including the dead husband. What a way to start the ending of the movie, "with a bang". How on earth did these females ever end up with these boyfriends? It is both scary and also looney!
If you like comic thrillers, you just might like Beautiful Creatures. I know I laughed a lot during the entire movie, and I still laugh when I happen to think of it!
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Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Jake D'Arcy
Iain Glen
Rachel Weisz
Susan Lynch
Tom Mannion
Director(s):
Recording label: Vision Video Ltd.
Manufacturer: Vision Video Ltd.
EAN: 5035822013148
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, PAL, Widescreen,
Release date: 2003-04-10
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 85 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2000
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: German (Original Language)