Main Cast: Minnie Driver, Joey Lauren Adams, Hallie Kate Eisenberg, Kathleen Turner, Leslie Stefanson
Release Year: 2000
Country: US
Run Time: 112 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Academy Award-winning actress Sally Field makes her debut as a director of a theatrical feature with this gently satiric comedy. Mona Hibbard (Minnie Driver) is a woman from a small town in Illinois who never enjoyed much of a rapport with her parents. Looking for approval and validation, Mona began entering local beauty pageants in her early teens; now in her early 20's, Mona is still grimly determined to one day walk away a winner as she finds herself in the early innings of the Miss American Miss competition, organized by Verna Chickle (Kathleen Turner). Somewhere along the way, Mona became a single mother; determined not to let this stand in the way of a pageant victory, Mona has persuaded her best friend Ruby (Joey Lauren Adams) to raise her daughter Vanessa (Hallie Kate Eisenberg) as her own. However, Vanessa seems to have sensed that something is wrong; she feels a much greater bond with Mona than her "mother," and (like nearly everyone else), she's noticed that she looks a lot more like Mona than Ruby. Beautiful also features Kathleen Robertson, Bridgette Wilson, and Leslie Stefanson. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Leslie Thomas - Art Director, Cathy Sandrich - Casting, Mark Morgan - Co-producer, Jon Bernstein - Co-producer, Jade Ramsey - Co-producer, John Nelson - First Assistant Director, Sally Field - Director, Debra Neil-Fisher - Editor, Steven Stabler - Executive Producer, Richard Vane - Executive Producer, Beau Rogers - Executive Producer, Kate Driver - Executive Producer, Brent Baum - Executive Producer, Barry London - Executive Producer, Wendy Japhet - Executive Producer, David Forrest - Executive Producer, John Frizzell - Composer (Music Score), Charles Breen - Production Designer, Robert Yeoman - Cinematographer, B.J. Rack - Producer, John Bertolli - Producer, Jeffrey Kushon - Set Designer, Pawel Wdowczak - Sound/Sound Designer, Jon Bernstein - Screenwriter, Medusah - Key Hairstylist, Jeffrey Kushon - Set Decorator
Mona Hibbard (Driver) is a selfish, unlikable young woman from a troubled home who has one overarching goal: to become the winner of the Miss American Miss pageant. Unfortunately for Mona, women with children are not eligible for the crown, and she has a young daughter (Eisenberg), but her best friend Ruby Stilwell (Adams) selflessly agrees to raise Vanessa as her own daughter. As Mona gets closer to winning the title, she has to come to terms with her troubled past, her thoughtless present, the fact that Vanessa is starting to clue in to her true parentage, and an ambitious reporter (Leslie Stefanson) who is thrilled at the prospect of becoming a TV star by humiliating the despised Mona. On many levels...can Mona emerge as a winner?
