In the opening sequence that serves to describe Beatriz's (Salma Hayek) identity as his protagonist, his job as a massage therapist, as well as his heavy week after his domestic goat is killed by a neighbor, we are also shown a Buddha statue and a picture of Mary side by side adorns his car. An explicit way to explain that Beatriz's character is liberal. The film itself is an attempt by director Miguel Arteta with scriptwriter Mike White, in their second collaboration after Chuck & Buck and The Good Girl, making dramas that are unfortunately too on-the-nose too shallow to both tickle and provoke thoughts, After serving his client, Kathy (Connie Britton), Beatriz was forced to postpone her return because her car was damaged. Kathy also offered her a stay, following a dinner with some of her colleagues, successful businesspeople. Derived from a "different world" and wearing modest clothing, it was not surprising when Beatriz had trouble mixing even though Kathy repeatedly gave Praise for Beatriz's service to help her daughter's recovery from cancer. We've been in a similar situation. Feeling alone among the crowd when trapped in the middle of the boisterous conversation of a group of strangers so different from us.<

Kathy's friends seemed friendly (at least in the beginning), but the more Beatriz talked about work and reincarnation, the thicker the separation wall, the more alienated Beatriz was. But Beatriz at Dinner did not stop until the presentation of the familiar awkward situation. The conflict escalated when the main character tangled with Doug (John Lithgow), a businessman engaged in the construction of hotels and often involved controversy related to evictions also reluctance to pay attention to employee welfare. This phase is also interesting, because (again) the chances of the audience ever (forced) to face a figure that is contrary to their principles, The problem is that the chats that are arranged fail to be the enchanting observations that can bind to the superficial dialogue of the characters, which over time become more and more two dimensional. Where black and white plastered too clearly. As a result, not a dynamic exchange of opinions presented, but the laziness of exploration in the form of exploitation of helplessness. The film took a cheap way when describing Beatriz as a "white figure" an innocent who always talk good and cornered by  opponents, the capitalists. But Beatriz himself, with all the talk that seemed improbable plus timing speech as he pleased, is also not a sympathetic figure regardless of good intentions.

Through his script, White does not feel the need to give Beatriz the weight of argumentation, hoping the audience automatically supports for his noble purpose. But Beatriz at Dinner is a dialog-based drama that should lead the audience's perception through sentences rather than merely wishing compassion. The issue of "capitalism versus humanism" or, more generally, "ego versus heart" is an important complex matter for the sake of finding solutions. Instead of offering the way, the film chooses to face complexity with a superficial mindset, only to stop "kill or kill", Though Salma Hayek offers one of the best performance of his career. Shabby-looking, eyes that seemed to know only the virtues and vices without greyish, until the minimalist motion such as hands that barely change the position when walking, the actress drowned in a role that is actually opposite to glamourty as a megastar. Unlike the movie that simplifies the story, Hayek handles the Beatriz character entirely. 

RATING (5/10)

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