However, a writer or director who’s willing and able can exceed the conventions of the adolescent fantasy they find themselves working in. That’s even more essential in adaptations, where a filmmaker can do the source material more favors by being truer to the spirit than the written word. Unfortunately, director Catherine Hardwicke (“Lords of Dogtown”) and screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg have decided to stick slavishly to the book, except for ancillary characters and elements of back story that had to be excised to fit the book into a 120 minute running time. The result is a little flat. Edward and Bella are every bit the cliché’s they sound like, although Pattinson is every so often able to break out of the straightjacket of broodiness he’s been stuck with and show some glimpses of real personality.