Synopsis
Georges Duroy travels through 1890s Paris, from cockroach ridden garrets to opulent salons, using his wits and powers of seduction to rise from poverty to wealth, from a prostitute’s embrace to passionate trysts with wealthy beauties, in a world where politics and media jostle for influence, where sex is power and celebrity an obsession.
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Cast
- Robert PattinsonGeorges Duroy
- Uma ThurmanMadeleine Forestier
- Christina RicciClotilde de Marelle
- Kristin Scott ThomasVirginie Walters
- Colm MeaneyMonsieur Rousset
- Philip GlenisterCharles Forestier
- Holliday GraingerSuzanne Rousset
- Natalia TenaRachel the Prostitute
- Anthony HigginsComte de Vaudrec
- James LanceFrançois Laroche
- 60
Total Film
A good-looking yet curiously tame adaptation of a saucy classic that showcases Pattinson's ambition if not his full abilities. - 50
ReelViews
At least the set design and costumes are excellent. The movie feels overstuffed and undercooked but it always looks nice. - 50
Slant Magazine
A coherent characterization of Robert Pattinson's striving schemer is nowhere to be found in this pedestrian period piece. - 40
Empire
Even with a strong cast to gild its endless chambers and salons, there's barely a spark of soul to fuel its story. Pattinson is no Malkovich either. - 40
The Guardian
Robert Pattinson has to do an awful lot of hollow-eyed smouldering in this hammily enunciated French period drama, taken from the 1885 novel by Guy de Maupassant. - 40
The Hollywood Reporter
A flavorless literary adaptation sunk by a lead actor, screenwriter and co-directors that are all out of their depth. - 40
Variety
"I had no conception of the depths of your emptiness!" a character shrieks in Bel Ami, and her words take on an unintended resonance as addressed to Robert Pattinson in the lead role. - 40
Time Out
The satire rarely stings, as first-time feature directors Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod give a polite Masterpiece Theatre gloss to this most impolite of tales.