Beatriz at Dinner
June. 09,2017 RBeatriz, an immigrant from a poor town in Mexico, has drawn on her innate kindness to build a career as a health practitioner. Doug Strutt is a cutthroat, self-satisfied billionaire. When these two opposites meet at a dinner party, their worlds collide, and neither will ever be the same.
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Reviews
Admirable film.
A Masterpiece!
It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional
The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.
Definitely not suited for the masses. Only for arthouse movie fans this picture might be an interesting portrait of a clash between the have and the have nots, between the rich and the poor, at the dinner table.The story is about a bunch of rich, yet corrupt real estate investors who accidentally invite a poor masseuse, (Salma Hayek) who has fallen victim to the destructive effects of those very same real estate investments.What is special about this movie is the personal relations we all have with people that might be dear to us, but unknowningly have totally other worldly views, that are exactly opposite to our own and even endanger those precious values that we believe in. Promising start, but a rather vague and unsatisfying ending. The subject is only interesting for those who care about saving the world for future generations. The direction isnt that special that I would care to praise it. Neither is the photography or soundtrack. "Beatriz at Dinner" is only interesting because of its subject matter. If you are interested in holism and saving the world then this movie can be an interesting watch. Salma Hayek plays excellently by the way, in a role and as a character we havent seen of her before.
I did not expect this movie to be so absorbing or to take on such a compelling subject. Salma Hayek has delivered some emotive performances but maybe nothing quite as personally intense as she gives here. No movie can please everyone and this one won't change that but, for the sensitive viewer, it certainly should offer quite a bit to contemplate. Mike White's script effectively studies the differences between those who have much (like, way more than they need) and those who care dearly for what little they have. Performances are uniformly good and some have tried to draw comparisons between Trump, and the character of the high-profile building developer played by John Lithgow but, any number of ultra-rich opportunists fit this image, including the Clinton's and Obama's of this world - so I can't buy that interpretation whatever.Miguel Arteta's direction keeps these observations on track while the strikingly stylish imagery delivered by director of photography Wyatt Garfield, is nothing short of poetic (no cheap handheld shots to spoil this potent character study) Lovely descriptive music, scored by Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh (mixed with other compositions) adds just the right touch for this thoughtful examination of a group of self-obsessed business people - meeting for dinner & playing the 'relationship' game (spelt big $) along with an outsider who wears her heart on her sleeve, and calls these deals out for what she feels they are. The ending is somewhat ambiguous and I felt the story deserved a little better - did the writer not have the courage to take on today's business ethics or is this just another example of the now trendy --woman on the verge theme-- currently popular with movie makers? Some aspects of this story brought to mind another compelling 'dinner' film: "Wetherby" from '85, written by David Hare. Beatriz' is well worth watching and even deserves to be revisited. Some language here and there.
Leave your agenda for your public life. Beatriz was a guest in another person's home and she forgot her friend had invited her to stay. Found the movie character obnoxious, even if everything she said was true to her conscience.
Beatriz (Salma Hayek) is an environmentalist and new age masseuse. She goes into a gated community to work on rich client Kathy (Connie Britton). Kathy gushes over her due to her work with Kathy's cancer-strickened daughter. It's been a bad time for Beatriz. Someone had killed her beloved goat. After her car breaks down, Kathy invites her to the dinner party that night. Beatriz gets into a rolling argument with the main guest, rich arrogant land developer Doug Strutt (John Lithgow). Her family was devastated when a hotel developer moved into her Mexican village. She objects to his big game hunting and her callous treatment of the environment.This is an interesting little indie of a committed leftist dropped in the middle of the privileged crowd. There is a good little conflict. Lithgow is unrepentant and I really like his "we're all dying" take on the world. I want more of that from writer Mike White. In the end, there is little more of 75 minutes of actual screen time. The movie is begging for more with Hayek and Lithgow. They could have had a free-wheeling debate. Instead, it goes for the cheap kill and forgets it with a dream reversal. This movie goes halfway done the road and then it pulls over to the side of the road before reaching its true destination.