OK so this film isn't destined for any Academy Awards, but it's a warm, winning flick that deserves to be recognized for it's very real strengths. Minnie Driver is usually wonderful, & she's wonderful here as Mona. Even as a kid (played by Colleen Rennison), Mona is feisty & determined, but you always see the ache beneath the bluster. We like Mona; you will too!
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Plot summary
Determined to win the Miss American Miss pageant, Mona is ready to sacrifice anything and everything to guarantee herself the crown including her own daughter! She manages to persuade her best bud to raise the kid as her own (Miss AM can't be a mom), but just when this beauty-queen wannabe thinks her prize is in sight, she's surprised by a come-from-behind competitor. Love.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
September 22, 2023 at 01:52 PM
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We like Mona; we really do!
A nice light entertainment
This movie is better than its reviews. It does wander a bit in the second half, but engaging performances make it worth watching. Minnie Driver is well chosen- attractive , but human. Joey Lauren Adams steals the movie. Not about to change your life ( not a " message movie"), but does subtly make some nice points about beauty and beauty contests, families, friendship and self-esteem.
Don't believe the reviews!
The contrast between the newspaper reviewers--who clobbered "Beautiful"--and its generally favorable bulletin board comments is extreme. The movie I saw is funny, entertaining, and has something thoughtful to add to discussion of gender politics, as well as to the various earlier films about beauty pageants.
"Beautiful" asks whether or not it is OK to continue having beauty pageants, and yet drop the requirement that the participants have refrained from motherhood, thereby straying from the pageants' vestal virgin ceremony origins. "Beautiful" answers in the affirmative, since that way pageants may yet have value in the personal development and empowerment of young women. If they are done with a little common sense, pageants need not be about objectifying or patronizing women
Apparently, that view was too politically incorrect for most big media critics. How would they have reviewed "Beautiful," had it been directed by Robert Altman instead of Sally Field?