Too often do actors’ personal lives outshine their craft and become the focus of the nation’s attention. Take Brad Pitt for instance. His truly diverse body of work is second to his relationship with Angelina Jolie and continuing drama with Jennifer Ainston. This has become true in the case of Robert Pattinson, the beautiful British 23 year old star of Twilight and the newly released Little Ashes, now playing at the Plano Angelika. His relationship with Kristen Stewart is front page news, not his recently brave endeavor into the venture of no-holding back cinema. He does not have much work experience but if his first two indie projects are any telling of what is to come, there is definitely something to look forward to with him.source
It has to be stated that Pattinson undoubtedly makes a perfect Edward Cullen. He plays the tortured soul with a seriousness that the devoted fans crave. His benign escapades endear him further to his admirers. Numerous stories surface about his compassion and patience towards the thousands of screaming girls he has run across in the past months. He is gregarious, warm, intelligent, down-to-earth and genuine in all of his interviews. But he can be more than a teen idol and transcend the boy of the moment craze.
He shined as awkward Art in How To Be, an honestly funny film about learning self-dependency while pursuing passions of the heart. His hair alone can cause a chuckle or two. Pattinson’s character Art is going through what he calls a “quarter-life crisis”. After his girlfriend dumps him for being morose all the time, he moves back in with his unresponsive and indifferent parents. He tries to volunteer at a local recreational center but is fired and his career at the supermarket leaves him feeling unsatisfied. Art just wants to compose music with his docile friends, belting on songs like “Choking on the Dust”. His unsupportive mother constantly tells him that she “wonders” about his life and he feels more alienated and sad. Art’s desire to improve himself leads him to the book “It’s Not Your Fault” by a self-help guru. In attempt to find inner-peace, he pays the author five thousand pounds to be his life coach and help him be more normal. Dr. Ellington, his new teacher, tells him stereotypical motivational treatise, like to achieve a state of “coffin” (conciliatory objective future focus introspective nurture). Throughout the film, they work together in attempt to reconcile the cold upbringing he had. This gem of a film, which can be seen on IFC’s On Demand Channel on Time Warner, is quirky and entertaining.
Pattison’s latest experiment with independent film, Little Ashes, is an unrelenting, faithful examination of the relationship between the poet Frederico Garcia Lorca and Salvador Dali. The story follows from when he was an 18 year old student in pursuit of what he referred to as the construction of his own genius to his expulsion from the surrealist movement. Although the timeframe presented could be hard to follow for anyone unfamiliar with the history of Spain, the film is an excellent piece of work for the most part. It spares no details, goes for the punch in the gut, the heart paroxysm, and the bewildered face all at the same time. The acting from both Javier Beltran (Lorca) and Pattinson (Dali) is solid and passionate. Their love scenes were virginally awkward yet powerful, an accurate depiction of a young love. Pattinson threw himself into the eccentric persona that Salvador Dali was, allowing himself to be immersed in all of his wild habits. He captured almost everything about Dali, including those captivating and untamed eyes.
Obviously not scared of a challenge, Pattinson shows a lot of promise. Despite the overwhelming success of Twilight, he remains more low-key then some reality television stars. If Pattinson continues to balance his body of work between mainstream and independent projects, he will build the respect he is entitled to and produce some truly great works.
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