美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Beatriz at Dinner' And 'Megan Leavey' Celebrate Women Warriors

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

"Wonder Woman" brought in a hundred million dollars at the box office last weekend. Two more films about women open this weekend. Salma Hayek stars in "Beatriz at Dinner," and Kate Mara plays the leading role in "Megan Leavey." Critic Bob Mondello says both Beatriz and Megan are in their own ways also warriors¹.

BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE²: Beatriz is a masseuse stranded³ one evening at the beachfront home of wealthy clients.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BEATRIZ AT DINNER")

CONNIE BRITTON: (As Cathy) You can just stay for dinner. It's just a work thing, is the only thing.

MONDELLO: Cathy regards Beatriz as a friend after she helped their daughter recover from cancer.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BEATRIZ AT DINNER")

BRITTON: (As Cathy) No, no, no, no, no, no, it should be fine.

SALMA HAYEK: (As Beatriz) I can even wait in the car if you want.

BRITTON: (As Cathy) Don't be silly.

MONDELLO: The dinner guests include a real estate tycoon⁴ everyone seems to be courting. Brash, a big-game hunter, he is from the moment he arrives oil to Beatriz's water.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BEATRIZ AT DINNER")

JOHN LITHGOW: (As Doug Strutt) Can I get another bourbon, hon?

JAY DUPLASS: (As Alex) Oh, no, Doug, this is Beatriz. She's staying for dinner.

LITHGOW: (As Doug Strutt) Oh, you were hovering⁵. I just figured you were a part of the staff.

HAYEK: (As Beatriz) Do I know you?

DUPLASS: (As Alex) Doug's famous. He's been on the news.

HAYEK: (As Beatriz) I don't know why. I think I know you.

LITHGOW: (As Doug Strutt) Ever danced in Vegas (laughter)?

MONDELLO: And things deteriorate⁶ from there. Played by John Lithgow, the big shot almost can't help reminding you of someone. Though the script was penned before the election, its conversations...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BEATRIZ AT DINNER")

HAYEK: (As Beatriz) When I first came to the United States a long time ago...

LITHGOW: (As Doug Strutt) Did you come legally?

MONDELLO: ...Pick up on themes and volatility⁷ that are still in the air. Salma Hayek's Beatriz isn't any more diplomatic than the developer. And when he starts talking about hotels he built in Latin America, she remembers one.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BEATRIZ AT DINNER")

HAYEK: (As Beatriz) It closed. It was only open for a year.

LITHGOW: (As Doug Strutt) Mine don't close.

AMY LANDECKER: (As Jeana) This tenderloin was amazing.

CHLOE SEVIGNY: (As Shannon) So was the fish - so buttery, flaky.

HAYEK: (As Beatriz) This hotel destroyed my whole town.

MONDELLO: Got to love the wives' attempts to steer⁸ the conversation to food. For a class-based allegory, "Beatriz At Dinner" is nicely observed. But the arguments are a little on-the-nose, and the filmmakers don't quite know where to go once they've set their main characters in opposition⁹. Hayek and Lithgow are terrific. Everybody is, really. But the script pushes them into corners, and that's pretty much that.

No one was going to push the real-life Megan Leavey into corners, not her mother who balked¹⁰ when she decided¹¹ to join the Marines...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MEGAN LEAVEY")

EDIE FALCO: (As Jackie Leavey) I just don't know why you want to do this.

KATE MARA: (As Megan Leavey) Yeah, I know you don't.

FALCO: (As Jackie Leavey) Just so you know, running away isn't going to solve anything.

MONDELLO: ...Not her drill instructor¹²...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MEGAN LEAVEY")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) Hang up that phone. Tuck your shirt in.

MONDELLO: ...And certainly not the officer who gave her cleanup duty with the canine¹³ corps¹⁴ in basic. It was punishment. It was not going to work, but then she encountered a German shepherd as anti-social as she.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MEGAN LEAVEY")

GERALDINE JAMES: (As Dr. Turbeville) I've been watching this dog all year. He's the most aggressive dog I've ever treated.

MONDELLO: It would not be true to say that it was love at first sight for either Megan, played by Kate Mara, or Rex, played by a German shepherd named Varco. But with some struggle, mostly on her part, they do manage to bond. Rex, a bomb-sniffing dog, was being prepped for assignment to Iraq where Megan finds common cause with another trainer.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MEGAN LEAVEY")

RAMON RODRIGUEZ: (As Matt Morales) I'm Matt Morales. I'll be your tour guide today.

MARA: (As Megan Leavey) Megan Leavey. Who's that?

RODRIGUEZ: (As Matt Morales) That's Chico. Chico, sit. I trained Chico to lick the enemy to death.

MARA: (As Megan Leavey) Nice.

RODRIGUEZ: (As Matt Morales) So where you from?

MARA: (As Megan Leavey) New York.

RODRIGUEZ: (As Matt Morales) You're not a Yankees fan, though, right?

MARA: (As Megan Leavey) Born and bred.

RODRIGUEZ: (As Matt Morales) Oh, come on. Dagger¹⁵ to my heart - really? Well, I guess we'll never speak again, Megan. Chico, we don't talk to Yankees fans, right? Good boy.

MONDELLO: Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite's spare handheld camera work comes into its own once the canine teams are out in the field.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MEGAN LEAVEY")

COREY JOHNSON: (As Master Sergeant) We need one dog team for a road sweep and surrounding area check.

MONDELLO: The film becomes a tense military procedural.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MEGAN LEAVEY")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) Dog up. Leavey, check the vehicle.

MONDELLO: The film is only about half over at that point, and where it goes afterwards is surprising. So I'll let you discover it yourself. Suffice it to say that real life threw more curveballs at Megan Leavey than even talented screenwriters could throw at Beatriz. Both women, happily, are undaunted by challenge. I'm Bob Mondello.

(SOUNDBITE OF FRUIT BATS SONG, "WHEN U LOVE SOMEBODY")

1 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

4 tycoon   

n.有钱有势的企业家，大亨

参考例句：

• The tycoon is on the verge of bankruptcy.那名大亨濒临破产的边缘。
• The tycoon has many servants to minister to his needs.那位大亨有很多人服侍他。

5 hovering   

鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
• I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。

6 deteriorate   

v.变坏；恶化；退化

参考例句：

• Do you think relations between China and Japan will continue to deteriorate?你认为中日关系会继续恶化吗？
• He held that this would only cause the situation to deteriorate further.他认为，这只会使局势更加恶化。

7 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

8 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

9 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

10 balked   

v.畏缩不前，犹豫( balk的过去式和过去分词 )；（指马）不肯跑

参考例句：

• He balked in his speech. 他忽然中断讲演。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• They balked the robber's plan. 他们使强盗的计划受到挫败。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

13 canine   

adj.犬的，犬科的

参考例句：

• The fox is a canine animal.狐狸是犬科动物。
• Herbivorous animals have very small canine teeth,or none.食草动物的犬牙很小或者没有。

14 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

15 dagger   

n.匕首，短剑，剑号

参考例句：

• The bad news is a dagger to his heart.这条坏消息刺痛了他的心。
• The murderer thrust a dagger into her heart.凶手将匕首刺进她的心脏。