Poorly made movie from a phenomenal book

Rating: 3/10 (23 November 2008)

After reading the first book within a day, I was in love. The story was beyond amazing, and the development couldn't have been better. I was thrilled that the book would be brought to the big screen, so I scoured the internet for every trailer and movie clip as my excitement grew and grew. On Friday I walked into the theater expecting a seductive romance, but all I got were 2 hours of non-stop laughter, even though that wasn't the intent of the movie.
Many people have already talked about the plot, how much the movie deviated from the book, etc., but I'm going to focus on the acting and how the movie flowed as a whole. The cast was great, except for Rob and Kristen as Edward and Bella. Their actions seemed forced, and remained extremely awkward throughout the whole movie. There was none of the spine- tingling romance that defined most of their relationship. Instead, Bella seemed absolutely terrified of Edward, and her "I'm not afraid of you" came out as fake and unbelievable. Now that the New Moon has been green lighted, I'd suggest that Rob and Kristen really get to know the characters they're portraying. The rest of the actors were great- from the rest of the Cullens family to Charlie- because they truly became those characters, and dedicated themselves to their roles. Most of Rob and Kristen's acting were laughable, which detracted from the tone of the movie. In the scene when Edward and Bella meet in chemistry class, Edward's fury looked more like he had caught the stomach virus rather than he was tormented by her presence. Lines weren't delivered with the correct tone so they came out cheesy and amateurish instead of powerful and stirring.
What ruined the movie for me was the fake acting of the two main characters. They needed to believe what they were doing. Some of the scenes also bothered me, such as the meadow scene. It took me until the scene almost ended before i realized that Edward was sparkling. Again, it lacked believability and credibility!
The baseball scene, however, was superbly done. The actors were very into what they were doing, and it met my expectations for what the scene should have looked like. If New Moon had more scenes like that one, it would garner much better reviews.
This is definitely a movie that people can skip out on. If you really want to see it, don't walk in with high expectations. Set them as low as you possibly can, and keep in mind that the acting is far below par. The book, however, was amazing, so read it, but don't watch this.