Bel Ami

Directed by Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod

(R)

**

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There’s “an undeniable void” at the center of this sumptuous period drama, said Elizabeth Weitzman in the New York Daily News. Robert Pattinson has been effective as a vampire in the hit Twilight series, “able to make the most of his brooding beauty.” But in a role that demands depth and real charisma, he proves here to be “an utterly blank leading man.” The star plays a rogue who tries to sleep his way to a higher social station in 19th-century Paris, and the targets of his affections elevate the proceedings, said Stephen Whitty in the Newark, N.J., Star-Ledger. Christina Ricci and Kristin Scott Thomas make credible characters of a bored young wife and a foolhardy matron, while “the frequently underused” Uma Thurman gets a chance to play “a fascinating woman, an ahead-of-her-time feminist.” Pattinson’s would-be roué is no match for these mates, so the film relies on a “swooning” score to keep viewers engaged, said Ty Burr in The Boston Globe. Unfortunately, “the music overwhelms the movie without ever filling the hole where a scoundrel should be.”