Bel Ami Reviews

Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but since there was an intriguing cast, I thought I might as well give it a try. Well, it wasn’t really good, I’m afraid. I mean, to start with, I’m not a huge fan of costume dramas but this one was particularly tedious with some rather dull characters. Furthermore, I really had a hard time to figure out what was the motivation of the main character. Seemingly out of nowhere, he gets a shot to do something with his life but I never really understood what he was looking for. Was it love, lust, money, power? I mean, he basically has sex with 3 women, married one of them, than even marry the daughter of one of his mistresses but the reason why he did all this never became really clear during the whole thing and I can’t say I really cared. On top of that, there was some really murky political intrigue which I never really fully grasped. Apparently, it was an adaptation of a novel written by Guy de Maupassant and only this piece of information is already more intriguing than the movie itself. To conclude, even though it wasn’t a total disaster, it was still a rather weak drama and I don’t think it is really worth a look.

'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.