Steel Magnolias

You can tell from the start that this was adapted from the stage. The dialogue--for the most part--has the same earnest theatrics as your average play, and honestly it works fairly well in a knock-off Tennessee Williams kind of way. And the stage adaptation becomes even more evident when it shows itself to be a comedy tear-jerker. And, as I said, that's fine. It has pro-talent and it's always nice to bring the stage into your living room from time to time.

"Steel Magnolias" is an emotionally barren experience throughout as it attempts to emulate the feeble "Beaches" (1988) and it largely accomplishes the same startling underachievement as that memorably lacklustre film. This time around we are introduced (or perhaps that should be we are subjected) to an assortment of constantly wittering women warbling on about a wealth of risible nonsense we are supposed to care about (or perhaps that should be find entertaining and funny), but in the main it is none of these things which is hardly surprising since much of it is aimed squarely at what will probably be a more appreciative female audience while the rest of us merely endure it - while wishing we were watching "Die Hard" instead - and we are never rewarded with anything of thought provoking consequence which might make any of it seem worthwhile.

Ok, so it's a film largely about women - but I still reckon Tom Skerritt's innovative way of stopping crows nesting in his tree is one of the best moments of this otherwise really quite sentimental drama. Things all centre around "Shelby" (Julia Roberts) who is about to be married to her sweetheart "Jackson" (Dylan McDermott) and so they are all frequenting the beauty salon of the cheery "Truvy" (Dolly Parton). Now the joy isn't quite abounding here as her mother "M'Lynn" (Sally Field) knows that her daughter is not the healthiest and after a seizure in the hairdressers we sense that childbearing might not be best for her. Luckily, they have a formidable group supporting them - not least "Clairee" (Olympia Dukakis) who has more money than God; the no-nonsense "Ouiser" (Shirley MacLaine) replete with huge great mutt, and the new girl on the block - "Anelle" (Daryl Hannah) who quotes scripture given the slightest chance and who comes across as just a little naive. Now rid of the pesky birds, the wedding proceeds and so does the arrive of "Jack Jnr", but what are the chances that this tightly-knit community can survive unscathed as "Shelby" tries to live an independent life. As you might expect, Field manages the motherly role with an almost visceral aplomb and Roberts does fine too, but it's really the others from this cast who gives the film it's quirky richness. Parton delivers her ditzy but compassionate "Truvy" quite engagingly and both MacLaine and Dukakis manage to craft some withering looks into their equally withering dialogue to generate much of the humour. It's Hannah, though, that I felt stole the show. Her character's inate humanity, decency and bare-faced innocence made me cringe at times but it also presented a joyous personality unsullied by the more tawdry goings on of day to day life - even though she does have a few of her own demons too. This is quite a touching story about community, resiliance and the varying disguises love can adopt as it travels amongst us, and though it can sail very close to a wind made of schmaltz, it's still a very human story that espouses the American ideal front and centre.