La beauté et la brute

After looking at some of the scores people gave this movie I honestly didn't think it would amount to much. However, after actually watching it I found it to be surprisingly good. Fran Drescher plays "Joy Miller" who is a beautician in New York City. Timothy Dalton is "Boris Pochenko", a brutal tyrant of a small Eastern European country (Slovetzia) who has mistakenly hired Joy to teach his four children. His Prime Minister, "Leonid Kleist" (played by Patrick Malahide), insures that Boris rules with an iron fist. Joy arrives and becomes instrumental in introducing much needed change. More importantly though, she changes Boris for the better as well. Now, while this plot is extremely predictable, the comedy is anything but that as there are many surprises written into the script that are simply hilarious and I think the writer (Todd Graff) deserves a lot of credit for this. Likewise, even though Fran Drescher was nominated for a "Razzie Award" for her performance, I can honestly say that it was totally undeserved. I found her performance to be both witty and refreshing. I also liked the way she and Timothy Dalton worked so well together. The "massage scene" in particular was especially amusing. In closing, I thought this was a thoroughly enjoyable movie and well worth the time spent.

While I won't say that this is an excellent movie, I still like it for its irreverent sense of humor. The acting's pretty average, there seem to be so many plots going on at the same time, but it still makes for an entertaining and interesting watch, if only to see the Nanny in her first major big-screen role. She brings the trademark we know so well to the movie - her nasal voice and pre-occupation with the trivial stuff, but she also brings a kind of sensitivity we've never seen before in the Nanny series.

I quite like some of the scenes - how she teaches the kids what she knows (airline miles), the massage scene, the home-coming, and a lot of others that just seem to be made just for her.

I have never enjoyed The Nanny, but I'm a fan of Timothy Dalton. It seems inconceivable that any casting director thought to put these two actors together, but, by some warped cosmic thing, it kind of worked in this movie. Granted, the script is predictable and borrows angles from classics from The King and I, Sound of Music and even I Love Lucy. Yet, when I want to watch something brainless and lighthearted (admit it--we all have those moments) I'll opt for this movie.

I saw this movie in the theater on a hunch and it was a really cute film. The premise is very similar to Fran's "Nanny" role (although in this case, she's the "tutor"). It's clean, the laughs are consistent, and it's a great family film. I'm not saying the film certified for Oscar, but kids would love it.

Hey, like many people, I happen to like "The Nanny". I also like Fran Dresscher in "The Nanny". (I don't think I need to explain this any further. A lot of people like this show.) Once in a while I like to watch light, fun, mindless movies. I suppose this all pretty well explains why I enjoyed "The Beautician and the Beast".

Fran plays almost the same familiar role, except instead of Mr Sheffield we have President-for-Life Pochenko of Slovetzia (Tim Dalton). He's an old school dictator and a disciplinarian as a father; however, she eventually captures his heart and gets him to change his ways. His oppressed children love her, of course. Think of Maria and Capt von Trapp. None of it is realistic, but that's part of the movie's charm. It has the same kind of humour as the television show, plus a good deal of gentle ribbing of Slavic countries and dictatorships. I watched the film on TV in Croatia, so I don't think they mind.

I see this movie is rated rather poorly here on IMDb.com. It also didn't do well at the box office. Don't let this influence your decision to watch it. If you like "The Nanny", you'll enjoy this movie too.