Review of Beatriz at Dinner (2017) by Steviegjd — 17 Jun 2017

John Lithgow's character in "Beatriz at Dinner" is not Donald Trump. The screenwriter says it is based on the dentist who got caught killing a Lion a few years ago on Safari and braggingly posting it on social media.

Lithgow's Doug Strutt is not only about the pursuit of wealth; he is also about doing it at any cost, killing and displacing people, rampantly destroying the environment, committing crimes willy nilly; and he also a hedonist who loves to go hunt and kill big game.

The only things Trump about him are that he is rich and he owns, among other things, real estate. It is truly only the most superfluous view of Strutt that makes him Trump. The screenwriter, in an interview, said that he is not nearly as bad as Trump and was based on the aforementioned dentist.

I'm not sure. Strutt, absent the moral qualms one should have with his worldview, is a charming dinner guest, quite unlike Beatriz. Selma Hayek bravely takes on a complicated character; she has no makeup, wears the frumpiest of clothes and has atrocious bangs.

Its hard to make Selma Hayek look frumpy; she does here. Her character also either doesn't understand or doesn't care about social norms or normal conversational cues. I have known plenty of bright, motivated, committed and annoying people like her.

She says exactly what she thinks, even though it is incredibly rude and has no hope of changing the minds of the other guests; she needs to be heard. The fact that she earnestly believes in what she is saying does not detract from the cringes one has when she unleashes.

The movie is short and clearly makes its main points. But the end is rather dark. That some people don't understand what happens or who Beatriz is, is quite frankly dumbfounding. It is clear what happens and it is clear who she is.

She is an alternative medicine, spiritual healing, masseuse, who has a strong sense of her personal dogma. She is not formally educated, but "learned" in the ways of chi and aura, and other such things.

I literally have met so many people like her. You just don't see them at this party of a group of Southern Orange County, money hungry, robber barons. She does not belong there. And that disconnect is where the uncomfortable cringes and dark humor reside.

THIS MOVIE IS NOT FOR EVERYBODY. If you loved Get Out, you will probably like this; it operates in a similar social satire dark comedy place. But Beatriz is not particularly about the Latina experience in America in the way Get Out is about the black experience in America.

But this is rife with social satire. The only thing I'd say this has to do with Trump is, if you voted for Trump you probably will hate this movie.