BEAUTIFUL

Year: 2000
USA: Destination Films
Cast: Minnie Driver, Kathleen Turner, Hallie Kate Eisenberg, Joey Lauren Adams, Ali Landry, Leslie Ann Stefanson, Bridgette Wilson, Kathleen Robertson, Brent Briscoe, Brittany Crutchfield, Daniel Dehring, Samantha Harris, Dawn Heusser, Jordan Lund, Michael McKean, Colleen Rennison, Jacqueline Steiger, Chuti Tiu, Spice Williams
Director: Sally Field
Country: USA
USA Rated: PG-13 for language and thematic elements
USA Release Date: 29 September 2000

Synopsis

Sally Field makes her feature film directorial debut with the comedy BEAUTIFUL about the story of a woman determined to rise above her unglamorous, unloved childhood, yet instead nearly mows down everything in her path.

Mona Hibbard (Minnie Driver) steadily advances as an American beauty queen in spite of her less than congenial temperament. Her best friend from childhood, Ruby, (Joey Lauren Adams) has the patience of a saint, which is why she's the one person who is willing to help Mona pursue her ambition. Ruby even -helps her to hide the secret that would completely derail Mona's plan to capture the "Miss American Miss" title: an illegitimate daughter, Vanessa (Hallie Kate Eisenberg).

Unwilling to give up or give in, Mona climbs her way up the pageant ladder on sheer will and hunger for victory. But as she arms herself to battle for the biggest title of her life, little Vanessa's emergence as an ally and supporter forces Mona to question her entire strategy. With the media, her co-competitors and seemingly the whole world threatening her chance at the crown, this beauty queen's greatest obstacle is that she is suddenly losing her killer instinct in favor of a maternal one.