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Review: The Beguiled (2017) ★★

<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">I try not to judge films too much by their trailers&period; In fact&comma; while I do like watching trailers before deciding whether or not to see a film&comma; there is something inherently patronizing about them&period; Their entire purpose is to sell the film to potential viewers&period; They are a marketing ploy&comma; plain and simple&period; That being said&comma; they are somewhat necessary&comma; and I have been very impressed by well-crafted trailers &lpar;whether for films&comma; video games&comma; or other artistic endeavors&rpar;&comma; and at times have rewatched particular ones purely for enjoyment&period; Sofia Coppola’s <em>The Beguiled<&sol;em> has a very convincing theatrical <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;youtube&period;com&sol;watch&quest;v&equals;iBoLK5z&lowbar;FHo">trailer<&sol;a>&period; It looks dark&comma; creepy&comma; and promises an intriguing plot centered on betrayal and revenge&period; This particular trailer is not one that I would want to watch more than once&comma; but it is good enough to have its intended effect&period; Upon viewing it for the first time&comma; my interest was piqued&period; I wanted to see what was going to happen&period; I begin this review with a discussion of trailers because the trailer for <em>The Beguiled<&sol;em>&comma; like so many before it&comma; writes a check that the film simply could not cash&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1"><em>The Beguiled<&sol;em> is based on the novel of the same name by Thomas P&period; Cullinan&comma; which had already been adapted to film in 1971 &lpar;that time starring Clint Eastwood&rpar;&period; I have never seen the original&comma; so I will not attempt to compare the two&period; However&comma; it has been noted in interviews with Sofia Coppola that she did make several changes to the story&comma; for various reasons&comma; some more well received than others&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>What is The Beguiled About&quest;<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">The film takes place at an all-girls school in Virginia during the American Civil War&comma; where&comma; while picking mushrooms in the nearby woods&comma; a young student at the school happens upon a wounded Union soldier named John McBurney &lpar;Colin Farrell&rpar;&period; The girl brings John back to the school&comma; where the headmistress&comma; Miss Farnsworth &lpar;Nicole Kidman&rpar;&comma; tends to his wounds&period; All of the girls are fascinated with John&comma; and eagerly try to catch a glimpse of their new guest&period; <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">While the girls are torn over whether or not to turn John in to Confederate soldiers as a prisoner of war&comma; Miss Farnsworth eventually decides to conceal his presence at the school until he has recovered&period; As John regains his strength and is able to walk on his injured leg&comma; it becomes clear that he wishes to stay at the school rather than returning to war&period; Meanwhile&comma; he develops romantic feelings toward Miss Farnsworth and Miss Farrow &lpar;Kirsten Dunst&rpar;&period; When Miss Farnsworth discovers John in bed with Miss Farrow&comma; it becomes increasingly apparent that John is not the perfect gentleman that he once seemed&comma; and his stay at the house becomes problematic to say the least&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;1045" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-1045" style&equals;"width&colon; 800px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"wp-image-1045 size-large" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;philosophyinfilm&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;11&sol;The-Beguiled-lurking-1024x633&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Elle Fanning The Beguiled" width&equals;"800" height&equals;"495" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-1045" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">The Beguiled &lpar;2017&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1"><em>The Beguiled<&sol;em> sounds like an enticing&comma; romantic thriller&comma; but it falls far short of what it could have been&comma; in part by setting our expectations too high&period; This film should have been an incredibly dark&comma; even horrifying film about the consequences of unbridled lust and betrayal&comma; but instead it is a rather predictable story that never really goes anywhere&period; Everything in the summary I have given is already shown in the trailer&comma; and nothing interesting happens beyond that&period; While there is technically a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;twist” that is meant to surprise and perhaps horrify audiences&comma; it can be seen from a mile away&comma; and is neither surprising nor horrifying&period; Instead&comma; it serves as a disappointing end to a rather bland film&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>The Beguiled&colon; Final Thoughts<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">What is most striking about this film&comma; especially considering Sofia Coppola’s talent&comma; is its lack of intrigue and memorability&period; It is completely forgettable&period; Additionally&comma; the fact that it is set during the American Civil War is hardly relevant to the larger story&period; It briefly serves as a backdrop for the plot&comma; but otherwise it hardly plays a role in the film&period; It could have been set in just about any other time &lpar;or at least during any other war&rpar; and been executed in the same way&period; <em>The Beguiled<&sol;em> lacks any kind of identity to separate it from the plethora of other revenge thrillers out there&period; Though there is nothing wrong with <em>The Beguiled<&sol;em> from a technical standpoint&comma; it is nonetheless a very boring and uneventful film&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span class&equals;"s1">Rating&colon; &starf;&starf; out of 5<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">If you would like to watch <em>The Beguiled<&sol;em>&comma; it is available to rent or purchase <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;amazon&period;com&sol;gp&sol;product&sol;B073PMYXWB&sol;ref&equals;as&lowbar;li&lowbar;qf&lowbar;sp&lowbar;asin&lowbar;il&lowbar;tl&quest;ie&equals;UTF8&amp&semi;tag&equals;mjones34880c-20&amp&semi;camp&equals;1789&amp&semi;creative&equals;9325&amp&semi;linkCode&equals;as2&amp&semi;creativeASIN&equals;B073PMYXWB&amp&semi;linkId&equals;547261e4a3b2da700f51430f6a9e7b9a">via Amazon here<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;

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