Despite an almost two-hour running time and a wholly loathsome main character, Beautiful is generally engaging.
Beautiful (2000)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:59
Fresh:9
Rotten:50
Average Rating:3.1/10
Consensus: Sally Field's directing debut suffers from an inconsistent tone, implausible script, and a protagonist that critics say is one of the most loathsome to come around in a long time.
Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins
Genre: Comedies
Box Office: $2,385,588
Synopsis: Mona (Colleen Rennison) is a 12-year-old who wants to be a beauty queen. And that's all she wants. She earns the money to fix her teeth and pay for pageant classes. She finds a friend, Ruby... Mona (Colleen Rennison) is a 12-year-old who wants to be a beauty queen. And that's all she wants. She earns the money to fix her teeth and pay for pageant classes. She finds a friend, Ruby (Jacqueline Steiger), who can make costumes. Mona grows up (and becomes Minnie Driver). And the grown-up Ruby (Joey Lauren Adams) is devoted to her so much so that when Mona inconveniently gets pregnant, Ruby solves the problem: Mothers can't enter beauty contests. Seven years later, Ruby is acting as Vanessa's (Hallie Kate Eisenberg) mother and looking after the single-minded Mona. Mona qualifies for the Miss America Miss finals. Then an elderly patient commits suicide at the nursing home where Ruby works. Ruby is accused. Who will look after Vanessa? Who will look after Mona? Mona and Vanessa head for the contest and, miracle of miracles, Mona actually starts thinking about her daughter. Sally Field makes her directorial debut with BEAUTIFUL. The odd family she has created in this comedy-drama consists of Driver as the self-centered Mona, Adams as the self-sacrificing Ruby, and eight-year-old Eisenberg--taking a break from Pepsi advertisements--as the most sensible and adult of the three. [More]
Starring: Minnie Driver, Colleen Rennison, Hallie Kate Eisenberg, Joey Lauren Adams
Starring: Minnie Driver, Colleen Rennison, Hallie Kate Eisenberg, Joey Lauren Adams, Kathleen Turner, Bridgette Wilson
Director: Sally Field
Director: Sally Field
Screenwriter: Jon Bernstein
Producer: John Bertolli, B.J. Rack
Composer: John C. Frizzell
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Reviews for Beautiful
It's treacly, plastic and shamelessly obvious, and yet, on a low-rent level, it somehow works.
In a feature directorial debut that never feels like one, Field is as effortless behind a camera as she is in front of one.
If you and a few girlfriends want a night out with laughs and popcorn, this could be your movie.
Like a pageant contestant who flops in talent but scores well in the inspirational speech, there are elements and nuances that save the movie from total washout.
Focuses on one woman's heartfelt and funny journey in search of what beauty really means.
It's a better film when it keeps its heart in cold storage and shows what drives a woman to compete against her peers.
Well, knock us over with a tiara, but first-time director Sally Field has actually made a likeable movie.
Even a couple of sharp pokes at pageant conventions can't keep the clumsy story from stumbling when on the catwalk.
Falls short of its promise by failing to get below the surface of any of the issues it introduces.
What could have been light and sweet is bogged down by layer upon layer of schmaltz and sentiment, not to mention a rather ugly (on the inside) main character.
[Driver] gives a technically impressive and effectively scary performance. But then, so does the Terminator.
You won't often see a movie with so many recognizable names yet such weak direction.
A conceptual tug-of-war between pathos, cynicism, and satire that is perfunctorily resolved by a thoroughly undeserved (if unsurprising) change of heart.
There's so much wrong with Beautiful, we'd have to dedicate an entire section of the newspaper to charting its flaws.
One idiotic, false, maddening plot turn after another, none of which are resolved in a manner that would resemble real, human behavior.
It has some humor and warmth, but would be nearly unendurable except for Driver.
Guys, quick huddle here. If your girlfriend even suggests seeing this movie, you might want to consider these time-tested words: 'Satan, go ye hence from the soul of my girlfriend. I shall not abide thy evil channeling.'
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 78% 78% | The Hangover |
| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
| 24% 24% | G-Force |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 90% 90% | District 9 |
| 86% 86% | 500 Days of Summer |
| 63% 63% | Extract |
| 06% 06% | All About Steve |
| 78% 78% | It Might Get Loud |
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