Red Riding Hood - 1 frown

Although “Red Riding Hood” has a striking production design, the script and dialogue are silly and the acting nonexistent. Even Gary Oldman’s overblown priest who’s ready to slay the werewolf can’t enliven this foolishness. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke who gained fame for the first Twilight movie, RRH seems like an attempt to cash in on the prepubescent demographic. For similarities, you’ve got a beautiful young girl, Amanda Seyfried’s Valerie, caught between suitors, the hunky peasant Peter (Shiloh Fernandez) and hunky rich guy Henry (Max Irons). And the script by David Leslie Johnson veers between serious, soapy teen angst (bickering between the rivals and various impassioned speeches) and camp (Julie Christie’s growling Grandmother and Oldman’s bombast). I have to admit, though, that Seyfried, Fernandez and Irons look hot – in a modern way. But since the story takes place some time around the Dark Ages, this contemporary look is at odds with the story Harwicke is trying to tell. Plus you have Christie in dreadlocks and Virginia Madsen (Valerie’s mother) in rouge and mascara. While Seyfried is a lively and expressive actress, she’s stuck between the two wooden performances of her costars. All in all, skip “Red Riding Hood.” It’s not worth your time or money. 3/13/11