It’s time for another movie review! I’m going to explore a rather different genre today, that of Christian romance. I decided to review this movie because it provided quite a bit of unexpected discussion in our home, especially considering I originally rented this movie for me. 🙂 So, on to the review!

Belle and the Beast

Belle and the Beast is a modern retelling of the classic fairytale, Beauty and the Beast. I want to let you know two things up front. It was completely appropriate for children, no unexpected “surprises.” However, I do want to let you know that many of the females in the movie wore pants. This may or may not be an issue in your home, but I wanted to let you know up front.

Belle is the leading lady, known for her kind, generous spirit, and her patient, understanding nature. She is also intelligent and capable. Eric is also known as the beast. He portrays the classic mean guy, impatient, angry, yelling, and overly critical of everyone. Yet, he has secrets and a desperate need for understanding. The supporting characters are not to be overlooked. Craig is actively pursuing Belle, and at first glance, he seems to be the nice guy, attentive and fun. But, as the kids and I discussed, he was not to be trusted. He showed himself as the guy that should be avoided at all costs. He was pushy, led by emotions, and expected the girl to trust and follow him, whether or not she felt it wise. The other character definitely worthy of mention is the housekeeper. She was a shining example of faithfulness, loyalty, patience and understanding.

Just discussing the characters with your children as the movie plays out will be of great value to them. We were able to talk about why each character made the decisions they did. Were they acting selfishly or wisely? An unexpected thing also happened at our house. We have two wonderful blooming young ladies in our home, ages 10 and 11. They looked at the men in this movie very critically as if they were potential suitors. I was encouraged that they never used the word boyfriend. They simply looked at each man to try to determine if that type of man would make a good husband. As your children grow, this is something that they need to learn about from you. If you keep things light and open when they are young, they will be far more likely to come to you when they are older and there actually are people of the opposite sex in their lives. I talk more about preparing your children for this stage of life in my book “The Children’s Ketubbah Project.”

I am sure you will enjoy the plot of this movie as it unfolds, and perhaps begin telling the characters what they should or shouldn’t do. This is great, and should be encouraged, whether you are watching a movie or reading a book out loud. Take this a step further and teach your children to compare the characters’ actions to Scripture. As they practice evaluating characters in stories, they will learn to evaluate themselves. And that is a very good thing!

I rented this movie from Christian Cinema. They have a wonderful selection of family friendly movies. We rent two movies at a time, watch them a few times, and then mail them back. It takes several days to get new ones, but we don’t mind. It makes those yellow envelopes we get in the mail a special treat.

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