Beautiful (2000)

Mona sacrifices everything, including family, in pursuit of a beauty pageant victory. Her friend Ruby helps her to an amazing degree.

Director:

Sally Field

Writer:

Jon Bernstein

Stars:

Minnie Driver, Hallie Eisenberg, Joey Lauren Adams

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Minnie Driver	...	Mona Hibbard
Joey Lauren Adams	...	Ruby
Hallie Eisenberg	...	Vanessa (as Hallie Kate Eisenberg)
Kathleen Turner	...	Verna Chickle
Leslie Stefanson	...	Joyce Parkins
Bridgette Wilson-Sampras	...	Lorna Larkin (as Bridgette L. Wilson)
Kathleen Robertson	...	Wanda Love
Michael McKean	...	Lance DeSalvo
Gary Collins	...	Miss American Miss Host
Linda Hart	...	Nedra Hibbard
Brent Briscoe	...	Lurdy
Colleen Rennison	...	Mona at 12
Jacqueline Steiger	...	Ruby at 12
Sylvia Short	...	Alberta
Herta Ware	...	Clara

Storyline

Sometimes you have to give up the life of your dreams, to discover the dream of your life... On her journey to become the next Miss American Miss, a young woman is forced to reevaluate her life's goal and, in the process, discovers what's really important and what it truly means to be... Beautiful.

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Plot Keywords:

one word title | f rated | title directed by female | male objectification | reference to penis size | 

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Taglines:

Sometimes you have to give up the life of your dreams, to discover the dream of your life.

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Genres:

Drama | Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for language and thematic elements

Details

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 September 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Mais Bela

Filming Locations:

Merry-Go-Round, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$14,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,409,433, 1 October 2000, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$3,060,963, 22 October 2000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Destination Films, Flashpoint (I), Fogwood Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the restroom, Belindy Lindbrook (Ali Landry) comes out of the stall and barely wets the tips of her fingers under faucet. She then keeps wiping her hands on a towel as if they're soaked.

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Goofs

There is no town named Schramsburg in Illinois.

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Quotes

Lorna Larkin: I'm Lorna Larkin, Miss Texas. I'm a magna cum laude graduate from the University of Texas with a double degree in genetic engineering and cosmetology.

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Connections

References Little House on the Prairie (1974)

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Soundtracks

Beautiful
Written by John Frizzell and Dee Carstensen
Performed by Dee Carstensen

User Reviews

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?