Beatriz at Dinner - DVD Review

[Michael Scott]

Beatriz at Dinner

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
I was immediately drawn to Beatriz at Dinner due to the stellar cast. Salma Hayek, John Lithgow, Connie Britton, all have given stellar performances over the years. Especially Hayek and Lithgow, who have had a stellar stage and screen career spanning multiple decades. Lithgow has been able to play everything from a psychotic killer (see Dexter) to a slapstick comedian (3rd Rock from the Sun is still one of my favorite TV shows), and has been able to captivate audiences in ways that truly has surprised me over the years. Beatriz at Dinner seemed like a good idea from the trailer, and looked interesting as a drama, but when it got underway I had an uneasy feeling. Everything seemed in place, and Miguel Arteta’s script was engaging, but there was this sense of disruption under the surface. On the edge of my seat I eagerly awaited the change up that would turn the story from exposition to full on drama, but what came was a strange mirage of esoteric emotional drama that just fizzled out after the first 40 minutes and left the viewer staring at the screen saying to themselves “what in blue blazes did I just see”?

Beatriz (Salma Hayek) is a Hispanic immigrant with a holistic bent. She lives at home in her simple dwelling with goats and dogs under her care, all the while taking care of clients a holistic cancer center where she deals out healing with her “magic” fingers (she’s a masseuse) and her loving nature. She also deals her skills to the elite upper crust of society and today is visiting Kathy (Connie Britton), a wealthy socialite/friend who employs Beatriz for her incredible skills. As fate would have it, Beatriz’s car breaks down after her session with Kathy, and is forced to stay the evening with Kathy, her husband Grant (David Warshofsky), and their guests Doug (John Lithgow) and other business folk for a bit of a celebratory dinner.

What starts out as an uncomfortable dinner evening evolves into something mysterious and dark when Beatriz is present for the over indulgences and insulting behavior of the upper class clients she treats. Doug is a multi millionaire real estate tycoon that deals in building condos and homes and strip malls as fast as he can, while skirting the law and trying to get as much from the surrounding environment as he can before he is legally forced to comply with regulations. Smug, sneering, and full of pride. Doug is propped up as the mustache twirling villain who hunts innocent rhinos in Africa for sport, and leers at Beatriz for her “antiquated” ideas of healing and preserving the land.

I really liked the direction of the movie for the first 30-40 minutes, with Miguel Arteta creating a strangely intoxicating drama that makes you wonder just where the story is going. We see Beatriz becoming suspicious of Doug after he makes a few comments about building in Mexico and starts cross referencing him with a memory of a land owner who destroyed her village. The tension mounts as Beatriz becomes more unhinged in her accusations and soon starts to target the sneering tycoon in a tirade that earns her the ire of everyone at the dinner. Then the film completely goes off the rails. What starts as a Dinner drama seems to turn to a thriller, and then goes completely art house in what seems like a fantasy world of delusion and artistic grandstanding, with Arteta crafting a story that just loses steam after the first 40 minutes and just rolls along until he seems to throw his hands up in the air and say “I give up” before just letting the credits roll in what seems like a hilariously bad rendition of Scandal.

I was really confused after Beatriz at Dinner ended. I honestly was wondering just what I actually saw. Instantly I turned into a discussion with other reviewers as well as researched the film as much as I could online. From what I gather opinions are all over the place. I’ve seen everything from the movie was a bout white supremacy, President Trump’s America, a discussion about privilege and the lower class, and everything in between. Honestly, I see none of those in there. What I do see is an incoherent mess that is either so sloppily made or so full of psuedo intellectualism that it lost itself in its own message. The acting itself is well done, with Salma and John taking the proverbial cake for best performances. Salma has always been a mesmerizing actress, and I was fascinated at how they tried SO very hard to downplay her beauty and give Beatriz a more “peasantish” persona. John Lithgow gives a stellar performance as the over the top business tycoon Doug, and once again proves that he is a master of sleaze and creep. The rest of the small cast does well enough, but those two are really the mainstay of the film and really steal every second of the show whenever they’re on screen.




Rating:

Rated R for language and a scene of violence




Video:

I feel like a broken record here, but once again I can’t seem to find any information on the cameras used to shoot Beatriz at Dinner as well as the resulting resolution of the master. Needless to say I was a bit disappointed that the film didn’t come out on Blu-ray (there was intimations form certain websites hinting that it was coming out on Blu-ray) but sadly it was only announced from Lionsgate as a DVD only title. The 480p DVD actually looks quite pleasing, with a warm and lovely looking color palette, and a strong sense of detail and devotion to intimate clarity. There’s some washed out black levels throughout the film (things look a little bit too brightened in the dimly lit dinner scenario), but otherwise it seems free of any major artifacting and shows solid clarity of detail.






Audio:

The 5.1 Dolby Digital track is very indicative of many other talky style dramas. The front heavy nature of the mix can not be denied, but it is not a detriment to the track. Vocals are crisp and cleanly replicated in the front of the sound stage, while mild musical cues and background sounds sometimes permeate the surround speakers. LFE is mainly reserved for the music, and is otherwise a fairly quiet passenger in the film’s journey. It’s a simplistic track, but one that does everything asked of it without complaining or showing fault.







Extras:

• Trailers

Final Score: ​

I wanted to like Beatriz at Dinner, I really did. I love the actors involved in the production and the trailer proved fascinating. Unfortunately the movie just devolves into an incoherent mess that tries to become so overly intellectual and “above the common man” that it loses itself in the process. I was entertained up until the point that Beatriz became unhinged and then the movie seemed to lose focus and just sputter off into the sunset without any gas in the tank. Lionsgate delivers another solid video transfer, and the audio is well done indeed. My only complaint (besides the movie itself) was a complete lack of extras outside of a few trailers. While I would love to recommend the film to you, I have to say that the movie earns itself a mild “rental” recommendation from me if you’re curious to check it out.




Technical Specifications:

Starring: Salma Hayek, John Lithgow, Connie Britton
Directed by Miguel Arteta
Written by: Mike White
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 MPEG2
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1
Studio: Lionsgate
Rated: R
Runtime: 82 Minutes
DVD Release Date: September 12th, 2017

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Frustrating Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Based on your review, I will skip it..