Twilight Time

Vampires never seem to go out of style, but as time goes by and folks in the media continue to try to find new ways and styles of presenting them, they've come up with some very unusual approaches, everywhere from "The Count" on "Sesame Street" to the recently ever-more-popular approach of vampires that look and act like they stepped right out of a script for "Gossip Girl". In "Twilight", this approach may possibly have reached its peak.

For those who may be unaware, "Twilight" is based on the first of a popular series of teen novels (none of which I've read). In this first tale, a young girl (played by Kristen Stewart of "Into The Wild") is reluctant to follow her mother and mom's new husband on a job-related road trip, so she goes to live with her father in a small, dark/dreary, rain-drenched upper northwest town. There she quickly settles into the local high school and becomes romantically involved with a mysterious student... who just happens to turn out to be a vampire, as are the other members of his family. You never got to meet Dracula's sister or father, did you? Just one of the many unique experiences awaiting you in "Twlight".

Actually, the very basic premise is not really all that different from the concept of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer", complete with the brooding vampire who really isn't all that evil and becomes involved with our teen heroine. But what a world of difference! "Buffy" took the time to avoid stereotypes and make each of its characters... lead and supporting... into real people (or whatever they may have been). "Twlight" gives us cardboard characters who for the most part speak in the same angst-filled monotones, in dialogue that could just as easily have been spoken by any of the other characters. The storylines of "Buffy" almost always related to real world and real, identifiable problems. "Twlight"'s main interest seems to be in close-ups of our handsome, brooding vampire hero and scenes designed to make the teenage girls in the audience filled with romantic longing. "Buffy" could give you every conceivable emotion in the course of a single episode. "Twilight" gives you little but the aforementioned brooding, with the exception of a few scenes that are UNINTENTIONALLY hysterical... I'm thinking in particular of a baseball game between the various members of the vampire family. If only more deliberate comedies could produce as many laughs!

That's not to say that there isn't ANYTHING to recommend it. Director Catherine Hardwicke gives us a fair amount of eerie atmosphere, the cinematography is much better than your standard cheesy horror picture, and in the midst of a cast of unmemorable performances (Hardwicke did much better in "Thirteen" with Holly Hunter and Evan Rachel Wood), Stewart actually seems natural and believable, like a real teen. Still, she's no Sarah Michelle Gellar. Still, is this enough for a really rewarding time at the movies? Not for me.

Having never read any of the original novels, I can't really say whether this movie is an accurate reflection of them. But if it is, I'm a bit mystified at their popularity. As I was sitting here in the Walker Library typing this, I happened to overhear a woman who appeared to be in her 40's asking a clerk how to get on a reserve waiting list for the "Twilight" books, saying something about being "born too late". Maybe I just have a similar problem but was born SO late that I'm just unable to connect with the appeal of the "Twilight" series. (Although I kind of think not.) But ultimately, my reaction to this film is to go very much against my usual grain and actually recommend that instead of going to a theatre to see a movie (this one), you instead stay home and watch a TV series... either in reruns or DVD, or even on Hulu.com, however you can get it. I don't think I have to tell you what TV series that is.