Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (1244)

Content

Kelly (279 KP) rated Dumplin' (2018) in Movies

Dec 12, 2018

Dumplin' (2018)

2018 | Comedy, Drama

8.2

(21 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Great casting (1 more)

Strong female characters

A feel good movie

Contains spoilers, click to show

‘Dumplin’’ is an overweight teenager with a little bit of a Dolly Parton obsession - not your usual hero for a movie. She is overshadowed by her mother, a former beauty pageant winner, and current judge, played by Jennifer Aniston. The movie tells the story of Willowdean’s (Dumplin’), journey into discovering her own sense of worth after signing up to a beauty pageant planned by her mother, alongside a small group who are protesting against the standard perceived norms.

I really enjoyed the film, and felt that Jennifer Aniston in particular played a really good role, portraying a mother who really loves her daughter but can never foresee her in the pageant world- there is a really touching scene at the end where she tells Willowdean how proud she is of her, which was believable and brought a lump to my throat.

Danielle Macdonald, who played Willowdean did so masterfully, showing us what it would really be like to be an overweight teenager in a community obsessed with thin beauty queens.

I felt the introduction of the Dolly Parton drag queen acts were a touch of genius adding an element of lightheartedness to the movie. I personally would have liked to see more from this group, particularly around the preparation of our small group of pageant underdogs, and felt that their role in building the self esteem of the characters was very much underplayed.

I also enjoyed the fact that although the group were recognised within the pageant (one winning second place), they didn’t actually win overall. I think if this had of happened it would have made the film less realistic, as is often the case with Hollywood movies.

Overall, this was a very good film, and well worth the watch.