Review of Beatriz at Dinner (2017) by Kenr — 11 Aug 2018

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 but 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.