Beatriz at Dinner (2017) Reviews

• Guess who's coming to dinner?

  borromeot2018-05-28

  I'm a great fan of Miguel Arteta and Mike White's work. They travel a road that will take us to unusual places. I don't know if unusual is the right word because all of a sudden everything seems familiar, perhaps is the way Arteta and White got us there that is unusual. Opposite worlds sitting at the same table. Selma Hayek is wonderful and every though that crosses her heart and mind is perfectly visible to us. John Lithgow finds a new and disturbing face to his gallery of startling characters and Connie Britton is sublime as the hostess walking a thin line between empathy and something else. Wow! It really grabbed me and shook me. So, a highly recommended movie trying to survive in a sea of Avengers and remakes. Bravo!

• a dues ex machina without the machina

  bruce_joffe2017-06-18

  {Spoiler alert: this review is written for people who have seen the movie} The elevator speech for the movie seemed really inviting: a send-up of Trump-like self-absorbed elites encountering a fully-vested spiritual healer. The send-up didn't disappoint as we see a realistic portrayal of the "nice" people who live in world where the unwritten rule is never to see, speak, or hear anything that questions the actions, or consequences of the actions, from which their luxury derives. Sadly, however, the movie disappointed my expectation that Beatriz' encounter with these people, particularly with the primary perpetrator, Doug, would somehow initiate a change of his life's tragic trajectory, or at least give the audience something to ponder after the credits rolled. The film didn't deliver. Instead, Beatriz gets bollixed up in her anger, fueled by uncharacteristic over-drinking, and does not effectively represent the deeply-centered, life-affirming compassionate healer that we see in the first part of the movie. Beatriz fails to build on the surprising connection she makes with Doug when massaging his shoulders, and also when acknowledging what it was that he liked about hunting. That connection could have expanded into a real dialog. Instead, she has a violent fantasy, does nothing, and walks into ocean. Fade to black. It was a dues ex machina without the machina. The problem, of course, is not with Beatriz, it is with the script writer, Mike White, and the director, Miguel Arteta. It wouldn't have mattered if Beatriz' encounter with Doug had succeeded in getting him to reconsider the destructive impact of his life, or if she failed. But in this movie, in spite of its exquisite setup, she doesn't even try. I am left with this question to ponder: What could Beatriz have said to open up Doug's blinders on himself and his life? 1 - The film's director should have had her translate the song, or sing a verse in English, so the audience, as well as the people she was singing to, would know what she was singing/saying. I got only a bit of it … about enjoying the little things in life. And then, she could have encountered Doug with something like, "What really brings you satisfaction? You have so many houses and vacation houses that it is causing rifts in your family. Can you see that more money, more business deals will still leave you feeling empty? But, you do like a challenge - a challenge in the face of danger. Consider what a challenge it would be if you worked to reverse the destructive impact of your, and your colleagues' developments." 2 - In the driveway, late in the movie, when Doug comes out of the house to have a conversation with her, and he says, "I'm dying, we're dying, the Earth is dying, so we just got to take and enjoy what we can." Beatriz could have said something like, "and what will you leave for your grandchildren?" Or, "and where would you be today if your grandfather had lived by those words?" Or, she could have connected to the shoulder massage saying, "Yes, Doug, you are dying. I felt it when I touched you. You haven't long. What do you want to leave as your contribution? Dead animals? Displaced people? Or, a renewal of life, and healing for some part of the Earth." Those are two answers I've come up with, I hope others will come up with some better ideas, because there are lots of "Dougs" in the world outside the cinema theater. By the way, I searched IMDb.com and many other websites looking for the name of her song, and the words in Spanish or English. I couldn't find anything. Where can I find this information?

• Don't go see this movie. Just eat a $10 bill instead. You will still come out ahead.

  ladynakia2017-07-05

  I was so upset about this movie that I almost asked the theater for my money back. The movie starts out promising, but heavy handed- Selma Hayek does a great job of portraying a two dimensional brown woman who eschews make-up, high heels and pretensions. Instead she's a 'healer' who loves her goats and thinks that the world needs help, but in this non-concrete, ineffective tree hugging hippie sort of way. The other characters are similarly two-dimensional, rich tropes trying to have a good time chatting about nothing while Selma 'ruins the party' with her awkward conversation about heavy topics. No one is relatable in this film. The plot drones on and it's like watching a train-wreck of awkward personal interactions. Its mostly boring but uncomfortable, even when there are confrontations and 'sparks fly'. Then after all of that, the ending is THE WORST. For whatever reason while the happy rich white people are lighting lanterns, she decides to go drown herself in the ocean which ends the film. This makes no sense and is just pathetic. Even my bad ideas are better than this, and I don't make them into movies. This movie was so bad that I made an account with IMDb just so I could warn other people about how awful it is. Please don't go see this. Just have a drink instead.

• Salma'Best

  barbara-054292017-06-08

  I have to say without giving any spoilers, this after Friday has been Salma's best film yet. The power she brings to her character is amazing. Not much of a reviewer type of girl but seen this film was the best thing that has happened to me in a while. Thanks.

• Excellent performances, divisive ending

  2001ASOfan2017-07-03

  This mostly-quiet, purposefully slow-moving film is an enthralling display of expert acting and direction, a seemingly carefully-choreographed slow dance of opposing world views displayed beautifully. Salma Hayek's performance and character are literally mesmerizing at times, John Lithgow's character counters with a blithely world-weary, dismissive (but curiously jovial) attitude about everything around him from the get-go. As it turns out, however, both characters are resigned and world-weary, dealing with the awareness of that and the resulting inner sadness in very different ways, and the ending of the film will either seem perfectly, tragically logical or frustratingly wrong, probably depending on your own world view and where you are in your commitment or strength to continue trying to make it a better place--or your resignation that nothing can be done because you believe we're past the point of no return.