I saw two movies this week, both of which are worth leaving the heat and heading for your favorite theater.
Beatriz at Dinner stars the eclectic troupe of Salma Hayek, John Lithgow and Connie Britton. Hayek plays Beatriz, a middle-aged Mexican immigrant who works in an LA clinic as a holistic healer to cancer patients. She also moonlights as a masseuse, most notably here to the very rich, Cathy (Connie Britton), the mother of one of her former patients. Beatriz has almost mystical powers to sense people’s moods, karma, and stresses through her hands. She is an uninhibited woman, whose major virtue is caring for people and even for the goats and other animals she keeps in her care. Beatriz is unfiltered, however, and forever speaks her mind.
As the movie opens, she has just driven from her home in the northern part of LA to the rich oceanfront community south of the city to give Cathy a massage before a big dinner party. When it is time to leave, Beatriz’s car won’t start. So Cathy, who is eternally grateful to Beatriz for the care of her daughter, invites Beatriz to join the three rich couples to dinner. We meet Cathy’s husband, who builds resorts for Doug Strutt (John Lithgow). Strutt is your basic fat-cat with dubious ethical standards. We also meet a younger couple, Alex (Jay Duplass) and Shannon (Chloe Sevigny). Alex has just coaxed legislation favorable to his boss, Strutt, through the legislature. This is a catered, celebratory dinner in Gatsby style. Plop in this humble, goat-raising, sensitive, mystical woman, and the dynamics change … and not for the better for anyone.
The rest I will leave for your viewing. This is a revealing, arty film of deep connections and painful revelations. The ending is surprising and unrelenting. The motion picture is only 82 minutes long but you better be ready for this interesting, well-acted, small film.