DVD
Review | Beautician and the Beast Written by:Kage
Alan
I can’t say I was a fan of Fran Drescher when she
starred in “The Nanny”. There was just something about the show I
couldn’t get into or enjoy the humor, which is a shame because I love
Fran Drescher the actress! Many may not know it, but Fran was an
executive producer on this film and she had a great deal of creative
input in it. Had I known that, I probably would have caught this at
the theatre instead of on Laser Disc and then DVD years later.
Originally titled “The King And Oy”, “The
Beautician and the Beast” introduces us to lovable and down on her luck
Joy Miller (Drescher). She’s a licensed beautician from Queens who
teaches her trade to students, is unable to get a high profile job that
might lead to better things and has an overbearing mother who is so
attached to her that the woman carried around Joy’s placenta in her
purse. Oy indeed! When a visiting representative from a small foreign
country mistakes Joy for a regular school teacher, he offers her the
chance of a lifetime to teach the children of the President of his
country.
The leader of Slovetzia, Boris Pochenko (Timothy
Dalton, “The Living Daylights”), turns out to be the beast here. Not
only is he stern, used to instilling fear in his people as well as in
his children, but he’s not used to a wise-cracking New Yorker who likes
to get the last word in during every conversation. Sparks fly in pure
comic fashion as Joy proceeds to try and get Boris to lighten up, meet
his people so they can see him as a human being and turn the world’s
image of the man around.
Drescher plays her role so genuinely sweet that it
doesn’t take long at all to start rooting for her to be happy in any
form she sees fit. Dalton is the perfect foil for her and tests her
resolve at every turn just as she tests his. He also shows that he is
perfectly capable of doing comedy and not the kind of dramatic or James
Bond action roles he’s done in the past. It’s an odd pairing, but the
chemistry really comes through on the screen and it wouldn’t be a bad
idea to see what these two can do together again some day.
Paramount has released “The Beautician and the
Beast” in a delightful Widescreen transfer. Picture quality is quite
nice, colors are rich and the audio is crisp and clear. I’ve no
complaints with either of these. As for extras, we’re given a
commentary by Fran Drescher herself, something unexpected I might add.
She gives us some very good information about what went into writing the
script, how the story developed, how it was cast, the conditions of the
shoot as well as what was shot where and when. If there’s a downfall
here, it’s that she lapses into silence on a number of occasions and
it’s easy to forget that we were listening to a commentary at all. A
trailer for the film is suspiciously absent.
“The Beautician and the Beast” is an absolutely
charming film filled with heart, laughter and the best intentions. The
world will never be a perfect place or even a good place all the time,
but it’s fun to dream and fables like this make it a little easier to
bare. I urge people who many not have been fond of the show “The Nanny”
to give this one a try. It doesn’t disappoint.
