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"BEAUTIFUL CREATURES"
(2001) (Susan Lynch, Rachel Weisz) (R)

Alcohol/
Drugs
Blood/Gore Disrespectful/
Bad Attitude
Frightening/
Tense Scenes
Guns/
Weapons
Heavy Heavy Extreme Moderate Extreme
Imitative
Behavior
Jump
Scenes
Music
(Scary/Tense)
Music
(Inappropriate)
Profanity
Mild Minor Mild None Extreme
Sex/
Nudity
Smoking Tense Family
Scenes
Topics To
Talk About
Violence
Extreme Heavy None Moderate Extreme


QUICK TAKE:
Suspense: After a woman kills another woman's abusive boyfriend, she and that girlfriend then set out to fake the dead man's kidnapping, hoping their ruse will net them a handsome ransom.
PLOT:
Dorothy (SUSAN LYNCH) and Petula (RACHEL WEISZ) are two women with bad taste in men. Dorothy's boyfriend, Tony (IAIN GLEN), often threatens to kill her, while Petula's boyfriend, Brian McMinn (TOM MANNION), turns such attitudes into physical behavior. It's during one such incidence that Dorothy, who's never met Petula, saves her from another beating by hitting Brian on the head with a large lead pipe.

Although the blow isn't initially fatal, Brian does end up dead, throwing the two women into an unexpected and sudden partnership, with Dorothy worrying that she'll go to prison for saving another woman's life. Accordingly, they don't tell the authorities and move the body out onto the balcony while trying to figure out what to do. That decision is forced upon them when Brian's older and wealthy brother, Ronnie (MAURICE ROEVES), who also happens to be Petula's boss, hires detective George Hepburn (ALEX NORTON) to track down his now missing brother.

With the inspector detective beginning his investigation, Dorothy suddenly decides that the women should fake Brian's kidnapping, figuring they can collect a hefty ransom, even if he's already dead. As the two women begin their ruse and try to bring it through to completion, they must contend with Tony, Ronnie and Hepburn as all three men either uncover the plan or become suspicious of the women's behavior.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?
Unless they're fans of someone in the cast, it's not very likely.
WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R
For strong violence and sexuality, drug use and language.
CAST AS ROLE MODELS:
  • SUSAN LYNCH plays a young woman in an abusive relationship who partners with another woman in a faked kidnapping plot after killing her abusive boyfriend. She also smokes, uses strong profanity and shoots up heroin in one scene (at gunpoint, but she is noted as being a "former connoisseur").
  • IAIN GLEN plays her boyfriend who's mean to her, threatens to kill her and shoots their dog (wounding it). He's also a junkie (he has Dorothy shoot him up with heroin) and uses strong profanity.
  • RACHEL WEISZ plays the young woman who Dorothy saves and joins in her fake kidnapping scheme. She also smokes, uses strong profanity and appears to be seen on videotape having sex.
  • TOM MANNION plays Petula's boyfriend who's physically and emotionally abusive to her and with whom she's been living for a year. He uses strong profanity.
  • MAURICE ROEVES plays Brian's older and perpetually stern brother who's not happy with the kidnapping scheme and ends up shooting and killing someone. He also uses strong profanity.
  • ALEX NORTON plays a crooked detective hired to find Brian who ends up trying to take his own piece of the ransom pie. He also uses strong profanity.
  • CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

    HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE


    Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
    Then read OUR TAKE of this film.


    (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).


    OUR WORD TO PARENTS:
    The following is a brief summary of the content found in this R-rated suspense film. Profanity is listed as extreme due to the use of at least 44 "f" words, while plenty of other expletives and colorful phrases are also used. Some sexually related dialogue is present, as is some videotape footage of a prior sexual encounter that shows views of rear entry intercourse, including nudity, movement and related sounds. On several occasions, still photos of bare-breasted women are seen.

    Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, including characters who try to cover up or enact various crimes that occasionally involve murder and threats of violence. Several people are shot dead (while a dog is shot and injured), another is knifed and some domestic style violence (boyfriends beating up or threatening girlfriends) also occurs along with other non-lethal acts. Some of those scenes have bloody results (along with repeated shots of a severed finger) and may be unsettling or suspenseful to some viewers.

    Various characters smoke, while the two main characters briefly smoke pot and one of them is forced at gunpoint to shoot up her boyfriend and herself with heroin. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone in your home who may want to see it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed content listings for more specific examples of what occurs in it.


    ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE
  • After being attacked by Brian but rescued by Dorothy, Petula asks Dorothy if she has anything to make a roach (marijuana joint) out of. Moments later, we see Petula smoking the joint and she hands it to Dorothy who also smokes it and one of them comments on it being "nice grass." Later, we see the two of them giggling from smoking it. Petula later comments about having too much to drink that night (she later says the same thing to the detective working the case).
  • Petula has a drink.
  • Dorothy and Petula shake up some beer cans to spray the beer around a boat to make the place look disheveled, etc.
  • At gunpoint, Tony makes Dorothy shoot him up with heroin, and then do the same thing to herself. He then mentions that Dorothy is a "former coinsurer."
  • BLOOD/GORE
  • A man's nose is bloody after Tony has punched him.
  • We hear Brian vomit.
  • Blood fills and then runs out of a man's eye after he's just died.
  • Dorothy discovers her dog with a severed human finger in its mouth. She then looks at the dead body on her balcony and sees that the dog has apparently gnawed off several other fingers (we see the somewhat bloody stumps on the hand). She then picks up the finger, washes it off, and sticks it in the freezer.
  • Later, Petula opens the mail only to have that severed finger fall out.
  • We later see more scenes where this severed finger is seen.
  • We hear Dorothy urinating.
  • Tony's face/head is bloody as is his shirt after he's knifed and hit with a golf club.
  • Petula has someone else's blood on her arms and clothing, and we then see Dorothy washing someone else's blood off her hands.
  • We then see blood going down the drain as one of the women showers.
  • Tony has a little bit of dried blood from his nose and on the side of his head (and a big blood stain on his shirt).
  • We see some blood on the floor after several people are shot and killed (including one with a slightly bloody bullet hole wound in his shirt).
  • DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE
  • Tony is an abusive boyfriend to Dorothy, roughing her up and threatening to "drink your blood." We later see that he's poured paint onto their dog as well as onto her clothes.
  • Petula's boyfriend, Brian, is also mean to her and we then see him beating her up.
  • The women decide to act like Brian has been kidnapped and then collect the ransom money despite him already being dead (a point they don't report to the police).
  • Hepburn lies to Ronnie about Brian being alive (so that he can move in on the ransom money of which he's upped the ante himself) and he "borrows" a shotgun from the police evidence room.
  • Ronnie seems to be in a perpetual bad mood and often acts menacing toward Petula, his employee.
  • FRIGHTENING SCENES
  • Scenes listed under "Violence" may also be tense or unsettling to some viewers.
  • GUNS/WEAPONS
  • Handguns/Shotgun/Rifle/Large hunting knife/Switchblade: Used to threaten or kill others. See "Violence" for details.
  • IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR
  • Phrases: "F*cker," "F*ck me" (nonsexual), "F*cked off," "What the f*ck is f*cking going on here?" "You stupid f*cking bitch," "F*ck you," "Up sh*t creek," "(You) Bastard," "Bloody" (adjective), "Shut up," "Bitches" and "Bloody hell."
  • It's possible that some kids could get the same idea to fake a kidnapping in order to collect a ransom.
  • We see that Tony has poured paint onto Dorothy's clothes as well as on their dog while mad at her.
  • JUMP SCENES
  • A person is suddenly seen in Petula's place.
  • MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)
  • A mild amount of suspenseful/ominous music plays in the film.
  • MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)
  • None.
  • PROFANITY
  • At least 44 "f" words (2 used sexually), 23 "s" words, 3 asses (1 used with "hole"), 2 hells, 4 uses of "Oh my God," 3 of "Jesus," 2 of "Oh God" and 1 use each of "For God's sakes," "God," "Oh Jesus" and "Swear to God" as exclamations.
  • SEX/NUDITY
  • We see various photos of bare-breasted women in a magazine.
  • On videotape, we see partial views of a man having sex from behind a woman as she's bent over (with her sounding like she says, "Stick it in my ass") and hear other sexual sounds and see her bare breasts and related movement. This woman appears to be Petula.
  • We see Petula with just a sheet around her as she answers the door (and we see glimpses of the tops of her breasts).
  • When Dorothy acts like a kidnapper on the phone to Petula, Hepburn thinks it's real and tells Petula to ask the "kidnapper" to ask the hostage a personal question that only the two of them would know (to prove that he's alive). When Petula asks what she should ask, Hepburn tells to her to ask for the location of the last place where she and Brian made love. She does and then acts like the correct answer was given. Hepburn, aroused by Petula (stemming from seeing her covered in just a sheet, and we see him starring at her butt), then wants to know the answer and Petula says on the couch in his office, and then adds that they did it twice. Hepburn then says that all he can say is that Brian is a lucky man. After she slaps him for that comment, he states that he meant since he was still alive (although he really isn't).
  • We see footage from the above videotape scene again (with movement, nudity and sounds).
  • We see a motel clerk looking through a magazine titled, "Chicks in Chains" and see a bare-breasted woman on the cover.
  • With Dorothy and Petula at gunpoint, Tony tells the latter to take off her tights (pantyhose) and tie Dorothy's hands behind her back (so we see her taking off the pantyhose). He then tells her to take off her pants because "I'm going to f*ck you" and then adds that they're going to watch as the dog "f*cks Dorothy."
  • SMOKING
  • Both Petula and Dorothy smoke around 5 times each, while Ronnie smokes a few times.
  • TENSE FAMILY SCENES
  • None.
  • TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT
  • The abuse Dorothy and Petula suffer at the hands of their boyfriends, that they stick with them (although that changes with how the story unfolds) and how Petula blames herself for Brian beating her up in one scene.
  • The women's decision to cover up Brian's death and then their kidnapping ruse of hoping to fool Ronnie and collect a hefty ransom.
  • VIOLENCE
  • Tony grabs Dorothy while mad at her and then chases her through a train. When a porter tries to intervene, Tony punches that man in the face, and he threatens Dorothy again (who's hiding in the bathroom), telling her he's going to drink her blood.
  • Dorothy sees Brian beating up Petula (punching and struggling with her) and her dog then races up and bites Brian on the arm. He then backhands Dorothy and drags Petula out from under his truck where she was trying to hide. He then roughs her up some more until Dorothy comes up with a huge metal pipe and clocks him on the head with it, rendering him unconscious.
  • Later and after the women have put Brian in Dorothy's bathtub, he eventually comes to, stumbles about while trying to stand and then falls to the floor quite hard (we don't see the actual impact) and is dead from that impact and/or the effects of being hit by that large pipe. Dorothy tries to revive him by slapping him on the face, but it's to no avail and we then see blood fill and then run from his eye.
  • Petula slaps Hepburn after a comment he makes.
  • Dorothy threatens Tony with his large hunting knife (in a defensive posture). He then pulls out a gun and aims it at her, causing her to drop the knife. He then grabs their dog and holds the gun to it in a threatening gesture. After getting her to inject him with heroin (at gunpoint), he threatens to shoot the dog if she doesn't shoot up (and she does).
  • Dorothy head-butts Tony, causing him to backhand her. He then shoots and wounds the dog and Petula then stabs Tony with his large hunting knife. She then strikes him on the head with a golf club (but he's still alive).
  • Hepburn puts a loaded shotgun up under Petula's bedcovers in a threatening manner after entering her place at night. He just as abruptly leaves, however, and does nothing else.
  • A man pulls out a switchblade, causing Hepburn to push him up against a wall and hold his shotgun on him.
  • Hepburn aims his shotgun at Dorothy who aims a handgun at him. After she gives up, he fires several shotgun blasts into a person lying on a bed. Another man then comes in and tries to shoot Hepburn, but his handgun doesn't fire. A third man then shoots and kills Hepburn with a rifle shot. The second man then tries to shoot that third man with his faulty handgun, eventually succeeding and killing him. This man then acts menacingly toward Dorothy, but Petula fires several shots, killing him.



  • Reviewed March 23, 2001 / Posted April 20, 2001

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