Willowdean (‘Dumplin’), the plus-size teenage daughter of a former beauty queen, signs up for her mom’s Miss Teen Bluebonnet pageant as a protest that escalates when other contestants follow her footsteps, revolutionizing the pageant and their small Texas town. (IMDb)
There’s not a lot of tension or even momentum to be found in the plot (the revolution meets surprisingly few external obstacles, and conflicts with mom or friend appear and disappear) but that’s because at its core it’s simply a story about Willowdean (Macdonald is great) and her touching journey through grief and self-acceptance, and gosh, it has so many beautiful moments (the underdogs performing at the pageant was wonderful of course, but I’m pretty sure heaven will be like that Dolly show).
7/10Â (Good)
joel watches movies 