Bel Ami

(M) Hopscotch DVD/BD

Set in late 19th century Paris, Bel Ami looks like it is going to be a luscious period piece worthy of a quiet night in.

Unfortunately, Robert Pattinson seems caught in the headlights between his vampire days and his successful role in Water for Elephants.

As Georges Duroy, an ex-soldier on a rags-to-riches journey, Pattinson is disappointingly unconvincing. A high quality cast — Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Christina Ricci — likewise doesn’t manage to ignite anything much in the various couplings that mark Georges’ march to the top.

It all just seems too easy for Georges, in this adaptation of Guy de Maupassant’s 1885 novel, and it’s hard to care much about him and his endless conquests, deceptions and social climbing.

Dave Cornford