The Beautician and the Beast

The Beautician and the Beast is a 1997 American romantic comedy film directed by Ken Kwapis. It stars Fran Drescher as a New York City beautician who is hired, under the false assumption she is a science teacher, to tutor the four children of a dictator, played by Timothy Dalton, of a fictional Eastern European nation. Ian McNeice, Patrick Malahide, Lisa Jakub, Michael Lerner, Adam LaVorgna, Phyllis Newman, and Heather DeLoach appear in supporting roles. Produced by Drescher's company High School Sweethearts in partnership with Paramount Pictures, The Beautician and the Beast is her first starring role in a film. It was part of her attempt to transition from television to film.

Drescher chose Todd Graff to write the screenplay because of his familiarity with her style of humor. She pitched and sold the project to transition her career from television to film. Filming took place in Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills, California, and Sychrov Castle in the Czech Republic. Kwapis consulted with dialect coach Francie Brown to create the fictional language Slovetzian for the movie. Cliff Eidelman composed the soundtrack which features the London Metropolitan Orchestra.

The Beautician and the Beast received primarily negative reviews. Dalton and Drescher received mixed reviews for their performances. Drescher was nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress for her role. Commentators noted that the film deals with themes of cultural differences and takes inspiration from outside sources. The Beautician and the Beast was a box office disappointment, grossing roughly $11.5 million against a production budget of $16 million.

Plot
The film opens with an animated sequence in which a prince awakens a princess with a kiss, though she rejects his romantic advances and runs away. The scene shifts to beautician Joy Miller, who teaches a New York City beauty school. One of her students accidentally sets the classroom ablaze by igniting hair spray with a cigarette, but she escorts her class and caged animals to safety. A headline in the New York Post praises Joy as a hero; Ira Grushinsky, a diplomat from the fictional Eastern European country Slovetzia, mistakes Joy for a science teacher after seeing the cover. He hires Joy as a tutor for the four children of the Slovetzia dictator Boris Pochenko, though she misinterprets his job offer as teaching hairstyling. After arriving at Slovetzia, Ira is surprised to discover Joy's identity, but she convinces him to keep it a secret.

Despite a bad first impression with Boris, Joy gets along with his children Katrina, Karl, Masha, and Yuri. While teaching them about life outside Slovetzia, she also helps them gain confidence in themselves. She learns about Katrina's relationship with Alek, the leader of the youth rebellion, and encourages Karl to pursue his dream of becoming an artist. During this time, Joy frequently clashes with Pochenko, who is disturbed by her independence and his inability to frighten her. Joy and Katrina go to a nightclub, which also operates as a base for the rebellion; Prime Minister Leonid Kleis follows the pair and arrests Alek.

Growing closer to Joy, Boris confesses to her that he wants to change his negative reputation as a "beast" among Western nations; she encourages him to form closer relationships with his citizens and shaves his mustache. During a trip to a factory, Joy realizes that Slovetzia lacks trade unions and pushes for the workers to hold a strike. She also arranges a secret meeting between Katrina and Alek in his cell. Despite Leonid's advice to fire Joy, she convinces Boris to hold a party for the summit of visiting emissaries to debut his new image; he places her in charge of the preparations. As part of the summit, Boris considers the release of Alek despite Leonid's disagreement. On the day of the event, Joy reveals her identity to Boris, but he does not care about her credentials. He thanks her for bringing happiness to him and his family.

During the party, Leonid confronts Joy about her role in Katrina's secret meetings with Alek; he threatens to have her arrested for treason. Following Boris' decision to keep Alek in jail, Joy informs him that she had set up meetings between Alek and Katrina; he argues with Joy over her meddling in Slovetzia's political affairs. She quits and returns to New York City. Over the course of several weeks, Leonid quietly takes over administrative duties and signs death sentences in Boris' name. When Ira informs him of the changes in power, Boris strips Leonid of his duties and arrests him on charges of treason. He reunites with Joy in New York City, informing her that he freed Alek and agreed to hold free elections in Slovetzia. Boris kisses Joy after admitting his feelings for her.

Cast

 * Fran Drescher as Joy Miller
 * Timothy Dalton as Boris Pochenko
 * Ian McNeice as Ira Grushinsky
 * Patrick Malahide as Leonid Kleist
 * Lisa Jakub as Katrina Pochenko
 * Michael Lerner as Jerry Miller
 * Adam LaVorgna as Karl Pochenko
 * Phyllis Newman as Judy Miller
 * Heather DeLoach as Masha Pochenko
 * Kyle and Tyler Wilkerson as Yuri Pochenko
 * Timothy Dowling as Alek
 * Michael Immel as Stage Manager
 * Tonya Watts as Model
 * Tamara Mello as Consuela
 * Celeste Russi as Lupe
 * Daniel R. Escobar as Hector
 * Billy Brown as Fireman
 * Jorge Noa as Photographer
 * Carmela Rappazo as Student
 * Clyde Wrenn as Student
 * Earl Carroll as Factory Worker
 * Vincent Schiavelli as Jailer
 * Marianne Muellerleile as Chef
 * R. Sparkle Stillman as Cousin Doris
 * Edmund Cambridge as Elderly Man
 * Todd Graff as Denny
 * Gene Chronopoulos as Servant
 * David Shackelford as Kitchen Worker
 * Michael Horton as Fairy-tale Prince
 * Jane Jenkins as Neighbor at Party
 * Zdenek Vencl as Czech Guard
 * Vaclav Legner as Czech Guard
 * Leon Silver as Vaclav
 * Stephen Marcus as Ivan
 * Marshal Silverman as Tailor
 * Dana Bednarova as Svetlana