The lead character in this film ... is one of the most reprehensible human beings that I have ever had the displeasure of watching at the movies.
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
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Reviews for Beautiful
Sally Field's directing is unindictable, but the script and the acting are close to grotesque.
It's difficult to say whether the film had a weak, choppy script, or if Fields insisted on cramming too much into the final product.
The script never finds the right tone for its life lessons, opting for maudlin sentimentality and ludicrous plot twists as phony as a beauty contestant's hair color.
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.
The kind of movie that connoisseurs of bad cinema will really, really like. Rarely does a movie go so thoroughly wrong in so many ways.
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.
Sally, get it straight: Mona doesn't deserve to be cheered. We don't like her. We really, really don't like her.
An uneasy comedy, one that asks you to swallow a lot of hooey to get to the cream-filled center.
This movie has no point of view, a wildly inconsistent tone, and no understanding of its characters.
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.
A mess of a movie that suffers from awkward writing, a plot with major disconnects in plausibility, an annoyingly screechy kid character and cheesy production values.
The movie's heroine is so tiresome, you can feel her projected image draining your life away.
Every mushy element of the script is robustly wrung for every last drip of sap.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
| 83% 83% | Harry Potter and the H… |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 75% 75% | Julie & Julia |
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
| 78% 78% | The Hangover |
| 49% 49% | Taking Woodstock |
| 26% 26% | The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard |
| 47% 47% | The Girl From Monaco |
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