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Beautiful

Play trailer Poster for Beautiful PG-13 Released Sep 29, 2000 1h 52m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
17% Tomatometer 65 Reviews 54% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
Mona Hibbard steadily advances as an American beauty queen in spite of her less than congenial temperament. Her best friend from childhood, Ruby, has the patience of a saint, which is why she's the one person who is willing to help Mona pursue her ambition. Ruby even helps her to hide the secret that would completely derail Mona's plan to capture the "Miss American Miss" title: an illegitimate daughter, Vanessa. Her biggest obstacle is losing her killer instinct for her maternal instinct.
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Beautiful

Beautiful

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Critics 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.

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Critics Reviews

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Nell Minow Common Sense Media Beautiful is just bad, sadly. Where's the plot? Rated: 2/5 Sep 30, 2010 Full Review Ted Shen Chicago Reader ally Field's direction is pedestrian, though she does manage to get shamelessly winning performances out of Driver and Eisenberg. Apr 12, 2010 Full Review Emanuel Levy Variety Flat, witless, and sappy (a very bad combo), Sally Field's embarrassing feature directorial debut aims to say something "relevant" about American society's obsession with physical looks at the expense of "inner beauty" and moral integrity. Rated: D- Sep 12, 2006 Full Review Marya E. Gates Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) At its heart it’s a film that is trying to critique the stigma of single motherhood and understand exactly what draws women to pageant life. Feb 13, 2024 Full Review Michael Dequina TheMovieReport.com An uneasy mix of broad satire, soap opera outlandishness, and movie-of-the-week sappiness. Rated: 0.5/4 Jan 14, 2010 Full Review David Noh Film Journal International It's treacly, plastic and shamelessly obvious, and yet, on a low-rent level, it somehow works. Dec 11, 2006 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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M.K. G Is it perfect? Nope. But in a movie landscape where female protagonists typically must be likable and perfect to make a movie worth watching, it's refreshing to see such a human one. The drama feels a little soapy at times, but it's a fun and emotional story about drive, ambition, and learning how to prioritize what matters. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 06/20/23 Full Review Ashley O This movie struggles to figure out what it is….it had an alright/somewhat interesting and original premise but with an unlikeable protagonist. And an ending that left much to be desired. This film couldn't decide if it was a comedy or a drama and didn't really nail either genre. Minnie Driver is a great actress and this film did not showcase near what she can do. Sally Field is brilliant in front of the camera but apparently not so much behind it…this was cringeworthy. The more serious and thematic moments of the film where it could have gone deeper it stays surface level and doesn't unpack all that it could. While I don't think this film was ever meant to strive for an Oscar, it could've done a lot better as they did have a decent cast to work with. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 04/17/23 Full Review Steve D The script is a complete mess. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Dalton L I think the critics were a little too harsh in the reviews of this film. Actually I was shocked when I saw the review scores. If people don't like the character it's because she's a little ignorant and no one raised her. A character who is loathsome makes interesting tv in my opinion. Ms Field is also not a experienced director so why be critical about nitpicky things. The move is actually entertaining and the characters are likable and relatable. Oh and implausible plot? There's some horrible movies that have higher scores than this one. Come on Rotten Tomatoes, let's get consistent and accurate reviews. A good movie shouldn't have low scores like this, and I feel a score like that could have people skip over this gem. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Audience Member I absolutely love this move! Just wish it showed more of the real places they are not pretend. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member I wasnt' sure what to expect from the movie when I read the description on TV, but Minnie Driver is a good actress, and I'm very glad I gave it a try. Minnie Driver did an excellent job in the main role. It has offbeat, interesting, extreme characters and I also enjoyed the story, the friendship between Mona and Ruby, and that loyal Ruby was able to see through Mona's unlikeable self. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Movie Info

Synopsis Mona Hibbard steadily advances as an American beauty queen in spite of her less than congenial temperament. Her best friend from childhood, Ruby, has the patience of a saint, which is why she's the one person who is willing to help Mona pursue her ambition. Ruby even helps her to hide the secret that would completely derail Mona's plan to capture the "Miss American Miss" title: an illegitimate daughter, Vanessa. Her biggest obstacle is losing her killer instinct for her maternal instinct.
Director
Sally Field
Producer
John Bertolli, B.J. Rack
Screenwriter
Jon Bernstein
Distributor
Destination Films
Production Co
Fogwood Films, Flashpoint Limited, Two Drivers Productions, Prosperity Pictures, Destination Films
Rating
PG-13 (Thematic Elements|Language)
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 29, 2000, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 16, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA)
$3.1M
Runtime
1h 52m
Sound Mix
Surround, Dolby SR, Dolby Digital, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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