Movie Review: Beatriz at Dinner

Beatriz at Dinner *** / ****

Directed by: Miguel Arteta

Written by: Mike White.

Starring: Salma Hayek (Beatriz), John Lithgow (Doug), Connie Britton (Kathy), Jay Duplass (Alex), Amy Landecker (Jeana), Chloe Sevigny (Shannon), David Warshofsky (Grant), John Early (Evan).

 

The filmmakers behind Beatriz at the Dinner – the talented writer/director duo of Mike White and Miguel Arteta – could not possibly have known just how relevant Beatriz at Dinner would be when they made the film. It premiered at Sundance after all, just a few months after Donald Trump won the election, but before he was sworn in. They knew, of course, that the national discourse was devolving, but they couldn’t possibly know it would go this far down. That timeliness works in Beatriz at Dinner’s favor, particularly because the film is rather thin in other respects, and needs that to give it a boost. I do wish that they had gone a little more biting here in their condemnation, because as it stands, I think it lets some people off the hook too easily. Still, it’s a fine film, with two standout performances.

 

The film stars Salma Hayek as the title character – a (legal) Mexican immigrant, working in L.A. as a “healer” of sorts – she does massages, but also more than that. She is at the expansive home of Kathy (Connie Britton) and Grant (David Warshofsky) – to give Kathy a massage before their big dinner party. The previous year, Beatriz had worked with the couple’s daughter – who then had cancer, but is now in remission – and Kathy is still grateful to her. Grant, not so much. When Beatriz’s car breaks down, and it will take a while for her friend to show up and help her with it, Kathy invites her to stay for the fancy dinner party. The other party guests are two other coupes – spineless, entitled corporate lawyer Alex (Jay Duplass) and his wife Shannon (Chloe Sevigny) and a Donald Trump-like land developer, Doug (John Lithgow) and his third wife, Jeana (Amy Landecker). As the dinner moves along, Beatriz finds it harder and harder to hold her tongue and the bile that Doug is spurting out – and eventually the dinner party devolves into a parade of awkwardness.

 

Hayek is great here – as she does every so often when given the right role, she shows what a great actress she can be if given the chance. Sure, she’s able to spew out the word motherfucker as good as anyone – as she showed in The Hitman’s Bodyguard – but there is more nuance to her work when given the right role. Here, she is more dressed down than I think I’ve ever seen her – playing almost a Mexican hippie, at one with the earth, and others around her. Of course, she hates Doug and everything he stands for – his hotels hurt the earth, and often those who live close by. Doug is an entitled, asshole – he takes responsibility for nothing, and doesn’t care. Yes, there is a degree of Donald Trump in him – but Lithgow makes him more charming than Trump could ever hope to be. He’s an asshole, knows it, and doesn’t much care. The only sympathetic character in the film other than Beatriz is Britton’s Kathy – who really is trying her best to walk the tight rope between these two sides, and is put in an impossible situation. The two other men are too busy kissing up to Doug to care if he’s an asshole – and their wives don’t either (I do wish the film had given something, anything to do for the talented Sevigny and Landecker – who are basically playing caricatures out of a Real Housewives show).

 

The show is, of course, a metaphor for the larger discourse in America – and it’s not exactly a subtle one either. I do wish the film had more bite to it in some regards – I think it lets us lefties off the hook too much, and allows us to feel superior to Doug and his kind. The film also kind of peters out, and the end strikes me as if the filmmakers had no idea how to end it, so how about we try this? The film could have been great had it gone a little harder at all its targets – but as it stands, it’s still impressive – and makes me want to see someone give Hayek another great role.