Twilight, the new film based on the popular book series by Stephanie Meyer, is a film that’s made primarily for three groups of people: Fans of the books, teen girls and gay boys. It’s dark, broody, overly emotional, and broody. Yes, I said ‘broody’ twice. Trust me, it’s no accident.

Since I haven’t read the book and I’m not a teen girl, I guess I’ll have to confess that I’m squarely in the third category of the intended target of the film. It’s a pity I didn’t like the film nearly as much as my partner, but I guess it’s more his kind of movie. Yes, plenty of girls and young women will drag their dates and boyfriends into the movie, but this is unquestionably a vampire-boy-chick-flick. Think Interview with the Vampire without Tom Cruise’s Lestat and throw in the “I’m not afraid to be close to a bloodthirsty predator” emo girl, and you’ve got Twilight.

What makes the film work is that it, like Troy, recognizes its target audience, and knows what they want: love story that has the sap oozing through each frame of the film, all-too-beautiful male stars who stir the hearts, plenty of unrequited passion, and enough tension to keep their interest. Throw in a few shirtless men and a good fight scene where one baddy vamp fights the good-guy vamp over the girl, and you have a fan-pleasing masterpiece. It’s too bad the rest of the audience isn’t all that interested.

Twilight is unapologetic in catering to its fans, and mixes in plenty of intrigue to set up for the damn-near inevitable sequel. In the film, we’re introduced to Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), who moves to Forks, Washington to live with her dad after her mom remarries. Just as she’s settling into her new school and meeting new friends, she takes notice of the overly-broody (there’s that word again – notice a pattern here?) Cullen family, including bed-hair heartthrob Edward (Robert Pattinson from the fourth Harry Potter film).

Eventually, Edward reveals himself to be a vampire who only goes after animal blood instead of humans (think of it as tofu for vamps), so she falls for him. Plenty of dialogue of “but I’m a monster!” and “No, you’re not!” ensues, which gives way to some of the most frustrating bedroom scenes ever put to celluloid. “I can’t!” “Yes, you can!”

It’s a classic exploration of teen frustration and sexual desperation, leaving both characters and audience wanting the two lovers to just get it on and get it over with.

While Twilight is nowhere near the territory of a great film, it certainly isn’t a bad one. I was pleasantly surprised that minor characters weren’t disposed of as vampire food, and Michael Welch (Stargate SG-1 fans will remember him as the younger version of Richard Dean Anderson from one episode) steals every scene he’s in as Mike Newton, the silly jock who has the hots for Kristen.

Catherine Hardwicke, whose last major film was another pretty-boy gathering, Lords of Dogtown (2005), has clearly respected the source material and given Meyer’s novel a fair screen presentation. Twilight is a film that’s destined to rake in the cash, but leaves out almost half of the filmgoing audience from the first scene.

While Edward has been seventeen “for a while,” it’s obvious that nearly anyone who’s much older than seventeen may well be left behind in the film’s moody perpetual adolescence. But for those among us who still have a taste for the dramatic and a hope that we too will meet a powerful, bloodthirsty monster who can’t bear to lose control yet swoops in to save the day (and pull the dent out of the truck), then this is definitely the film to see.

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