Beautiful People

Holden's pretty-on-the-outside people either see the light or get what's coming in this skewering of the bratty class. The best-selling Brit author (Bad Heir Day) holds up a mirror to preening and pampered actors, and to the predatory PR nabobs and agents who mold and market them. Under Holden's steely gaze are Belle, a plastic surgery poster girl whose star is on the wane and who will do whatever it takes to crawl back on top (including adopting an African orphan), and Darcy, a serious London actress who lets herself be lured into the lead of a Hollywood blockbuster, finding that she neither likes the moviemaking grind nor fits into the vacuous industry mold. These two polar opposites briefly share a destiny, discarded lovers, and the need to fit into a size zero while battling glitzy evil. It's a wearying and overlong fight, but there are ringside moments that nail the wispy nature of celebrity and the futility of chasing it.