We are living in sensitive times in our country because of all the political and cultural issues that are surrounding our society. However, I have to admit because I have observed in both a personal level and also a societal level that people have become more involved into discussing politics as to how our society has been affected because of the presidential election. It seems that it gets awkward as we enter the realm of that world because 1) we do not know what is going on in the White House and 2) we are not professional politicians; we are the people that will be experimented as to how laws will be imprinted onto our country and also how it would affect people in races, sexual orientation, income individually and in families. I have heard buzz about this movie when it arrived in Sundance and it had fairly good reviews but I entered with an open mind. This is a satirical dark comedy that is sort of a punch to my face as to look how satirical and dumbfounded we are. It has a great performance among other solid ones, sure, and even though it has something to say, the movie felt pandering with characters being portrayed as robots and addressing issues and it never takes off.
Beatriz (Salma Hayek), is a woman in her forties that starts her routine of feeding the dogs and a goat and praying at an altar. She works at a cancer center where she treats patients with massages, aromatherapy and breathing exercises. Later, while hasting, she drives to a grand house in a gated community where her client, Cathy (Connie Britton), is hosting a party for some of her husband's associates that evening. Cathy owes Beatriz a lot because she helped her daughter get treated while she was recovering from chemotherapy years before. After the massage, Beatriz's car will not start and Cathy invites her to her house. Her husband, Grant (David Warshofsky), privately protests that she should not interfere because they are important guests.
Among the crowd are Alex and Shannon (Jason Duplass and Chloë Sevigny), the former being a lawyer and Doug and Jeana Strutt (John Lithgow and Amy Landecker). Doug is a famous developer and the couples have come together to celebrate their latest project with Beatriz left in the fold. Cathy introduces Beatriz as a talented healer and discusses her tragic background with the women as Beatriz has left. While at dinner, Beatriz talks for a while about herself but Doug interrupts her as if she had to come the United States illegally. But, Doug kids as he applauds her for being employed and need people like himself to provide jobs. It gets more awkward as the evening progresses.
This movie's biggest problems are the dialogue and how almost every shot is staged. I felt that this movie is more appropriate for a staged play that could push the dialogue to an edge and make it more like a satirical comedy about the state of our country after the election. It is obvious that John Lithgow's character is a Trump figure because he demolishes property and builds hotels. It is an allegory as to what Trump is doing. And, Beatriz represents the minority population. The opinionated discussions are nearly agreeable, however, it did not feel as sharp as I wanted it to be. It did not feel as tense or claustrophobic as you notice others characters squirm, nod or look away because the editing and staging looked like that an intern did not how a movie works.
Salma Hayek does give one of her best performances as a woman who is dedicated to her work and is also flustered because of all the hard work she has been laid upon to service herself in the United States. You buy her as a hard-working woman. John Lithgow does give a good performance but his character, again, is served as an allegorical character as a powerful man providing more urban life but denying human nature even though he knows he will provide more jobs. Amy Landecker is fine and Connie Britton and Chloe Sevigny serve their characters well.
I have liked some of director Miguel Arteta's work like The Good Girl (very good) and Youth in Revolt (marginally liked it). But, here, he does provide social commentary on a dark satirical level but he is more focused on the reactionary shots than the actual insight of cultural issues and dark comedy that can provide us more nuance, laughs and thought. The movie improves a little bit as Beatriz's judgment comes into realistic fruition with Doug and how she is observing how people would be impacted but then it retreats to more awkward reactions, a fantasy that does not take off and an anti-climactic conclusion that makes no sense. Arteta and director Mike White is tempting us to get into the conversation on both an insightful and entertaining level but the movie misses on the opportunity to sell me on how impactful this movie is to think about and create an intelligent discussion.
**
Comments
Post a Comment