For all of its sex and scandal, Bel Ami lacks the passion needed to make its story of lust and power a memorable one.

Based on French author Guy de Maupassant’s 1885 novel (also known as “The History of a Scoundrel”), Bel Ami ticks all the boxes required to make for a presentable period film. There is a smouldering male lead, attractive actresses in pretty frocks and a lavish backdrop that does not delve into excessiveness.

Yet it is passion that is curiously lacking, a vital ingredient for any film of this nature which attempts to stir the heart and the loins.

Robert Pattinson stars as Georges Duroy, a young solider fresh out of the army and craving success in 1890 Paris where money is to be made if you know the right people. So, the cheeky little devil hatches a plan and rises up the ranks of Parisian society where he befriends (aka seduces and suitably beds) three influential women (Christina Ricci, Uma Thurman and Kristen Scott Thomas) slowly losing his soul until he becomes an empty shell of a man.

The casting of Pattinson as Duroy works well. An actor blessed with classic movie star looks and an ability to scowl and smoulder with the best of them, Pattinson’s characterisation of this scoundrel of a boy playing to be a man whose success lives and dies on his relationship with older women, draws eerie parallels to his own career. (Cougar Twilight mums will no doubt use Bel Ami as a model for their fantasies).

Good too are the actresses who play Duroy’s women. Thurman is suitably tough as the independent Madeleine Forestier, Scott Thomas is her always impressive self as the stately Virginte Walters, and Ricci still looks like the sexiest porcelain doll to grace the screen as Clotidle de Marelle (sharing the best scenes with Pattinson while doing so).

It’s directors Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod’s handling of the material that makes Bel Ami the impotent tale that it is.  While the duo have vast experience in the theatre (they founded the Cheek by Owl theatre croup), their transition to screen directing proves that they still need some time to get the nuances of this craft down pat.

Yes, they can direct actors very well, yet their mishandling of tone results in those solid turns being wasted. They can shoot a love scene, yet without feeling it’s all stimulation and no substance. They can make a watchable film, but not a very memorable one.

As a result Bel Ami’s journey from rags to riches and many warm beds in between has moments of tantalisation, yet is an overall flat experience. Much more sturdier hands were need on this one.