0 Robert Pattinson - In The Land Of Women...

Beware, Beware there's a predator out there!

*Yes i know what i did, i placed Rob's name and the title of one of Kristen's movies together for today's blog post ;-)*

When it comes to certain movies one looks forward to, for me it has to be the story line and not necessarily who is in it. Although it doesn't hurt to have a good looking male or a good looking female lead if the movie is not up to scratch. This i feel will not be the case when it comes to the release (small but nonetheless) of Bel Ami. Yes it has been done before; adapted a few times from Guy de Maupassant's novel of the same name, but this time it features Rob in the main lead as the cad, usurper, seducer and female heart destroyer - Georges Duroy.

A very confident and arrogant Georges played by Rob...

Now i am not one to read a book immediately once i am told who will be starring in the adaptation of it, to the big screen. It took me ages to pluck up the courage or interest in the Twilight books, considering they were aimed at the 'young adult' section. But i finally relented because of my love for the vampire genre, only then to be told the actor who played Cedric Diggory (R.I.P) had got the lead role, as the brooding teenage vampire Edward. So you can say i know very little if nothing of this from book to movie story, other than what i have read in the write ups for it. That and of course, this wonderful but sometimes kooky fandom clues me in on the rest. What i can tell you is that from what i have seen and read, this movie will lift the lid on all those negative ninnies, who think that Rob can't act. 

I am not talking about how much flesh he does or does not expose. Please, mother of three kids here and a very happy married life i have, thank you very much. You will find no cougar stripes on me I'm afraid. It's his acting ability i am more interested in, because it's a far cry from anything he has done before. In previous movies he has played the role of a person you get to like, even feel sorry for from time to time (Bad Mothers Handbook and How to Be) spring to mind.

If only Edward Cullen could have been a bit like this *shudder*

In this movie, right from the very beginning you sense a darkness in the character of Duroy and know by around 15mins into the movie, he is up to no good. Greed, wealth, seduction and destruction is the essence of this story, as Duroy sleeps his way into the lives of three bored housewives; whose husband's leave them alone to sit pretty and look after their home and children, while 'they' entertain themselves with the eager and pleasing women of the night.

While some fans see this as a welcoming change from the stiff and sometimes bored looking Edward (cardboard) into a role with some meat and bones to it (more man meat for them to ogle at) others see this as a transition from the Twilight roles. A move away from being type-cast as the eternally beautiful vampire and be seen in more serious roles. Remember Me did well, but not as well as some expected and i feel that was all down to the poor marketing it got and not enough promotion. (the right way) It was seen more for the fact that Rob was playing the misguided role of an angry man; whose anger spilled over throughout the movie, and of course the token 'sex scenes' which seemed to gain interest from one fraction of the fandom. Namely women ogling once more at the stud they have on their bedroom walls and would leave their poor unsuspecting husbands for.

Hmm a bit like his role for Bel Ami? LOL

The scoundrel that is Duroy...

Water for Elephants did exceptionally better than Remember Me. Again it was down to marketing the movie, and not because Rob was in it. The cast i felt was far superior than RM and of course, the story itself was both entertaining, enjoyable and thrilling at the same time. Reese Witherspoon was a good counterpart for Rob to play against, she is a very strong actress and can hold her own. With Bel Ami, the cast of Uma Thurman, Christina Ricci and Kristin Scott-Thomas as the equally bored and equally seduced wives of the rich and powerful in 19th Century France, lends a tantalizing back drop for Rob to play against. And...judging by the clips that have been seen so far, it gives you a glimpse into just how much Rob has grown since he came onto the US scene, albeit a little shyly in 2008. My support of this actor has been there since his brief encounter with Lord Voldemort's wand in Goblet of Fire. By then, he had done a few unsuccessful roles; Vanity Fair springs to mind, but his character ended up on the cutting room floor. It was 'Potter' that gave him a small foot through the door and he slowly built his way up...

Until a young veteran actress and her Director saw him, after a long day of auditioning others for the love interest and finally, he was seen for the potential that he is.

A dangerous liaison?

I won't go all hearts and flowers and wax poetic about just 'how good' Rob is. His acting to some people, has only been credited for in the Stephenie Meyer 'teenage drama' movies, but i feel he has been given more range to work with and people are taking a bigger interest in what he has as an actor, to offer. David Cronenberg has given him a greater expanse of space and social awareness in his role as Eric Packer in Cosmopolis. Again, the character is all kinds of interesting and all kinds of self-destruction in one go. Again, there will be sex, but in this industry i feel too many draw on that basic human need and glamorise it for the big screen. 

Thankfully it seems it will be not as debauchery filled as Bel Ami, but this movie proves a point. Bored housewives find entertainment elsewhere, when the husband gets bored of the same thing night after night. Or in the case of Clotilde, Madeleine and Virginie; they find comfort, seduction and a small part of human emotion in the arms of Duroy. As he sleeps his way into their hearts, their pockets and their husbands wealth for the finer things in life.

Although it will have a small release and many of Rob's fans right now, are a bit dismayed that certain parts of the world may or may not actually get it...i feel the movie itself will speak volumes as to just how far Robert Pattinson has come. (acting wise) He wants his movies to be seen for the literal content and not because he just so happens to be starring in them, but that helps. If fans want to wallow and waste their time worrying over his private life, they will never take his public life as an actor seriously. We can all smile and sigh at the lovely romance that has kept him happy and content for the past few years now, but i personally want to see more roles for him. Roles with exceptional content that will push him as an actor and not necessarily the custom 'Rom-Com' that some poor actors end up going down that long and never ending route of one story line similar to the other. 

I believe you were expecting me?

I want to see him doing roles with a lot more meat to them (and not taking his clothes off all the time) and i personally want to see him showing more of the range we have just caught a glimpse of and no more - working with children. I have to say in both Remember Me, Water for Elephants and now Bel Ami (Breaking Dawn - Part 2 doesn't count as of yet) Rob has this infectious quality to him that you can't help admire when he is around children. They say in acting; never work with animals or children, but for Rob it's a joy to behold. He seems to have a level of immaturity (in a lovely sense) that just calls to the young actors he has worked with. From playing a brother to a broken hearted and bullied sister for RM, a father to young children in WFE and playing around with the daughter of one of his conquests in BA - Rob loves kids and it shows. BD P2 will show another side to him as well - as a father to Renesmee and apparently, it will have fans weeping in the aisles at the very tender side of Edward Cullen.

I have to say, i see a wonderful future for Rob as an actor. He will no doubt be able to shrug Edward the vampire of for a little while - gone but not completely forgotten. Unlike Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) he has only four books to get over and no growing pains in the process. I feel that the more selective he can be, with the roles he is being offered and i have no doubt, studios have been lining up to have him work for them, the better the chances of doing another movie that means more to him than how much it will earn at the box office.

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

Finally and yes i will put it out there...
I do want him to work with Kristen again and not because they are together and that they spilled a lot of themselves into the roles of Edward and Bella. But because they do work so well together. By their own admission, they agree in that sentiment and that working together on something completely different and not necessarily opposite each other as romantic leads, would prove just how good it would be. I would love to see them work as enemies possibly - the door could be opened to such a wide and varied range of roles. But of course that won't happen until Breaking Dawn - part 2 is in the theatres, and they will finally be free of the saga altogether. 

They work together well as a team; despite the personal side to their relationship and in some small way, that has been essential in pushing each other forward in roles that they may or may not have done before. Kristen has always been vocal about Rob's talent as an actor and he has always been complementary about her acting abilities, that indeed intrigued him prior to getting the role of Edward in Twilight. So it would be nice to see them once more in a movie. I know their fans most definitely, will want that.

*With many thanks to RobStenation, for the clip and Pattinsonlife for uploading it to share =)*

Have a lovely weekend...
T.