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Beautiful

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Beautiful (2000)

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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

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Feb 20, 2001

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Reviews for Beautiful

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1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Despite an almost two-hour running time and a wholly loathsome main character, Beautiful is generally engaging.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Andy Klein
Andy Klein
New Times

It's treacly, plastic and shamelessly obvious, and yet, on a low-rent level, it somehow works.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
12/11/06
David Noh
David Noh
Film Journal International

In a feature directorial debut that never feels like one, Field is as effortless behind a camera as she is in front of one.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Kevin Thomas
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

If you and a few girlfriends want a night out with laughs and popcorn, this could be your movie.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
01/01/00
Liz Braun
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies

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.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Louis B. Parks
Louis B. Parks
Houston Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Focuses on one woman's heartfelt and funny journey in search of what beauty really means.

Full Review Source: CNN.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Paul Clinton (CNN.com)
Paul Clinton (CNN.com)
CNN.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's a better film when it keeps its heart in cold storage and shows what drives a woman to compete against her peers.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
01/01/00
Paula Nechak
Paula Nechak
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Disappointingly short on substance.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Robert Strohmeyer
Robert Strohmeyer
Filmcritic.com

Well, knock us over with a tiara, but first-time director Sally Field has actually made a likeable movie.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
01/01/00
Steve Simels
Steve Simels
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Even a couple of sharp pokes at pageant conventions can't keep the clumsy story from stumbling when on the catwalk.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
01/01/00
E! Online

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
03/19/02
Globe and Mail

Falls short of its promise by failing to get below the surface of any of the issues it introduces.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
01/01/00
Amy Sidwar
Amy Sidwar
PopMatters

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.

Full Review Source: Citysearch | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bill Pearis
Bill Pearis
Citysearch

[Driver] gives a technically impressive and effectively scary performance. But then, so does the Terminator.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Bob Strauss
Bob Strauss
Los Angeles Daily News

You won't often see a movie with so many recognizable names yet such weak direction.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
01/01/00
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

A conceptual tug-of-war between pathos, cynicism, and satire that is perfunctorily resolved by a thoroughly undeserved (if unsurprising) change of heart.

Full Review Source: Mr. Showbiz | comment Comment
01/01/00
Cody Clark
Cody Clark
Mr. Showbiz
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There's so much wrong with Beautiful, we'd have to dedicate an entire section of the newspaper to charting its flaws.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Dave McCoy
Dave McCoy
Seattle Times

One idiotic, false, maddening plot turn after another, none of which are resolved in a manner that would resemble real, human behavior.

Full Review Source: IFilm | comment Comment
01/01/00
Dave White
Dave White
IFilm

It has some humor and warmth, but would be nearly unendurable except for Driver.

Full Review Source: San Diego Union-Tribune | comment Comment
01/01/00
David Elliott
David Elliott
San Diego Union-Tribune

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.'

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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