Movies that Deserved Better: 'Beautiful Disaster' (2023)

         On April 12, 2023, Fathom Events released 'Beautiful Disaster', which quickly divided the critics, creating a score of 25% on Rotten Tomatoes. In the film, "bad-boy Travis Maddox (Dylan Sprouse) is exactly what college freshman Abby Abernathy (Virginia Gardner) needs and wants--to avoid. He spends his nights fighting in underground boxing matches, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. But Abby wants nothing to do with Travis. Intrigued by Abby's resistance to his appeal, Travis offers her a simple bet: if he loses his next fight, he must remain sex-free for a month. If he wins, Abby must live in his apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that Abby's dark past is about to emerge, and he may have finally met his match." Naturally, I was curious and watched it on Hulu this weekend and found it to be much better than the critics said it was. But what exactly did the critics say?

       Pablo Vázquez of Fotogramas praises the film, stating, "A generous serving of good kind of trash. Luxury garbage. Pure and simple nonsense. A wonderful disaster; that's what it is."

       Natasha Alvar of Cultured Vultures notes, "Those who are fans of Jamie McGuire’s book, which Beautiful Disaster is adapted from, won’t enjoy the film too much. The details I remember from the book are a little fuzzy, since I read it more than 10 years ago, but I definitely recall more angst and brooding bad boy. Roger Kumble’s film is a decidedly different product, which is a good thing. Kumble, who directed movies like Cruel Intentions and Just Friends, knows how to craft an entertaining film." Continuing, "If you’re a serious fan of the book, then maybe skip the movie, because you will surely be disappointed. But if you just want to laugh and have a good time, Beautiful Disaster will suffice."

       Sandie Angulo Chen of Common Sense Media was less impressed, stating, "The premise of the source book for Beautiful Disaster, however, is a lot more ridiculous than the regular "good girl/bad boy" premise of that series. Forget insta-love -- this is a tale of insta-lust."

       Anne Brodie of What She Said writes, "Abby (Virginia Gardner) a young woman whose controlling father raised her to become a top poker player finally gets out of the house in the Prime Video romcomdram A Beautiful Disaster. And then she walks right into a potentially controlling relationship with student/fight clubber Travis (Dylan Sprouse), an attractive manipulator and narcissist who gets into her life and stays despite her repeated admonishments to leave her alone. He stares at her in a kind of animalistic predatory manner and refuses to take a hint. She’s just not interested, she likes another fella, but he makes himself impossible to ignore. She stays with a friend unaware he rooms there and they must share a bed – innocently. They’re both playing games, she’s not sure whether she should go for it and he is a bit too sure, and we are not sure about him, he’s cocky and a womaniser. Will she be able to resist his alleged charms? Her college pals soon discover Abby is a renowned child poker prodigy. Gritty, and tough with a character we care about and one we wish would go away."

Photo by Diana Polekhina on Unsplash

        The reviewer at forevershereads.com says, the film takes on the most light-hearted takes on the story of Travis and Abby. It was something I hadn’t expected, and honestly, missed the angst and Travis’ alpha traits. When Dylan was announced as Travis Maddox, I was disappointed. Travis is a larger-than-life, possessive, domineering alpha male, and the actor doesn’t possess grittiness. However, when I watched the movie, and with its comedic turn of the plot, Dylan was a good choice. The movie is a rom-com, so of course, a lot of intense pivotal moments in the book are not shown – the push and pull between the two, the toxic dependency, the past traumas, and their struggle to be strong. In the movie, they are very flirty, with both acting more funnily than in the original story. It also has a happy ending. There’s a second movie following them after their marriage. Although disappointed, I actually had fun watching the movie. I watched it twice too, for Dylan. Overall, I would recommend it as a one-time watch."

        Personally, while this film was clearly not great, it was far from bad. It falls in what I call the "not a bad way to waste a few hours" category, which is not good but not horrible for me. Sprouse was a standout to me, but Gardner was the biggest surprise to me. She just needs the perfect script and the sky is the limit.