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Rich, popular and good-looking (read: smug, entitled asshole), Kyle (Alex Pettyfer) acts positively beastly to his high school peers. So Kendra (Mary-Kate Olsen), a witch in Stevie Nicks clothing, transforms his hot ass and makes him U-G-L-Y (his alibi: rehab). He goes into hiding at a secluded private home, starts calling himself Hunter, stops doing pushups in his undies and begins to care about others. He meets handwritten-letter-loving Lindy (Vanessa Hudgens) — who’s also in hiding because of a dumb, clumsy subplot involving her addict father — and must woo her in order to break the spell. Which is when the scarred, scared Hunter learns about inner beauty. Frankly, most audiences over 13 won’t buy this reworked Beauty and the Beast romance. The attractive leads have no chemistry, and there is very little magic — even when the characters read each other Frank O’Hara poetry. The best thing about Beastly, other than the kicky Olsen, is the undoubtedly reliable Neil Patrick Harris, who provides comic relief as Hunter’s blind tutor. Lessons learned: Hudgens needs to graduate high school (c.f., Bandslam) and Pettyfer needs to quit it with the supernatural stuff (c.f., I Am Number 4). —Gary Kramer

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Official Site: www.beastlythemovie.com

Rating:	PG-13
Director:	Daniel Barnz
Cast:	Vanessa Hudgens, Alex Pettyfer, Mary-Kate Olsen, Peter Krause, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Neil Patrick Harris
Release Date:	March 4, 2011 (Nationwide)
Running Time:	95
Distributor:	CBS Films
Producer:	Susan Cartsonis, Roz Weisberg
Genre:	Romance, Drama
Advisory:	for language including crude comments, brief violence and some thematic material