MovieChat Forums > Beatriz at Dinner (2017) Discussion > Good but unsatisfying

Good but unsatisfying

posted 8 years ago by Drmccormack (743)
7 replies | jump to latest

We went to see this tonight because the previews looked very promising. It had all the right ingredients for an exceptional movie but I don't know, it didn't catch me in a way it could have. I think I was hoping for a sea change in one of the characters that never happened. I think the writer, Mike White, maybe wanted it this way so it would be realistic. This is definitely different from nearly everything that's at the theaters right now. My husband and I were looking at the marquee and it's almost all sequels and junk, so it was a pleasure to see an "adult" movie. The lead character, Beatriz, is super interesting and well played by Selma Hayek. John Lithgow is in this and he is wonderful, as usual. The entire cast is great. I think it's a pretty accurate statement about today's society and I think it gave me a bit of the creeps. I would like to think that we do not have a class system in our country, but this is a myth and this movie exposes the ugliness that exists when there are separate rules for rich and poor/middle class people. It makes you think, that's for sure!

[–] Jes' Sayin' (6443) 8 years ago

Basically it's good, but they were unable to come up with a good ending.

I wonder if they couldn't have gone for a cheeky, comedic ending.

[–] Information-Police (4895) 8 years ago

Agree. It was very interesting and the acting was great and i really loved Mothersbaugh's score but the end left me flat. First, SPOILER ALERT

they did what I hate in movies, letting us eat our cake and have it, too. They give us the catharsis of the murder, and let us maybe feel good about it - and then take it back. Bobby Ewing in the shower again.

And the suicide - what was that about.

Maybe they want us to think that Beatriz just have up ing the fave of so much evil ing the world. Maybe she was horrified that she herself could even contemplate violent revenge.

Maybe that's may up to us, but I don't think we were given quite enough to chew on.

[–] Drmccormack (743) 8 years ago

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Such a great point. I think Beatriz was disgusted with everyone's apathy toward the destruction of the innocent (her village, her goat, the environment). Then she allows herself the luxury of imagining her revenge. Then, like you say, she is horrified with herself and the world and gives up. Tough storyline for sure.

[–] Nostromo (242) 7 years ago

I liked the ending. Thought it was a very good movie. I see the ending as a metaphor for "uncertain times ahead" . The world is a scary, frustrating place at the moment. And we are able to control it less and less as the years go by.

It's a melancholy thought. But the movie at least makes us think about it. This was the finest Salma Hayek performance I've ever seen.

[–] Drmccormack (743) 7 years ago

Yes, Salma Hayek was excellent in this. The ending was a surprise, that's for sure. I wasn't expecting it. I liked the movie but maybe my expectations were too high.

[–] Sybil (64) 7 years ago

I do agree, the movie was exellent, the acting was superb and I felt awkward at some point, it felt personal and as much as I wanted her to reach out to him that was unfulfill.
I felt the ending missrapresent her. She looked more like a overly worked woman who has a little too much wine... wish it emended differently .

[–] brux (14757) 6 years ago

This was an interesting movie, and I think it is going to come down to this because the know-it-all,have-it-all owners of everything are unreachable and they keep eating up the whole world that is supposed to be for us all.