Garbo46
After many viewings, this has become my favorite movie. I was born in Mississippi, so I can detect semblances of relatives in all the characters! Beth Grant is a gem, probably the best actress to ever play a deep south character. If you watch repeatedly you start to appreciate the nuances of the phrasing, the gestures, and facial expression. Newton-John's singing is pivotal in the staging of important scenes. I would think "Ain't It a Bitch" would make a great song to sing in taverns and hillbilly bars to get the action flowing, and her song in the credits is fantastic. Don't know why it wasn't pushed to be a pop hit. All the actors are superb, fleshing out their characters with great aplomb. Relatives getting together for a funeral provides a great premise for messages of self-acceptance, being non-judgmental, spotting hypocrisy, being fabulous, and seeing the absurdity and joy of life even in an atmosphere of death. Good show!
dcooke1
I think Cipher-J's review -- and some of the others here -- miss the main point. It's not whether you find the movie hilarious or not. I mean, if you're gonna like this movie, I guess you'd better find to be funny. But the real pay-off of this movie is how you grow to like, or at least empathize with, many of the characters. If you find yourself resenting or dismissing this movie as just cheap shots at a bunch of losers, you're missing a whole layer. Maybe you're the loser. You gotta be able to care about these characters. This movie is one of the very best I've seen which collects a crew of oddballs and makes you love them. Think Coen Brothers. Think Rushmore.The crime of it is that the Oscars and Golden Globes don't reward performances like Leslie Jordan's and Beth Grant in this movie.
sls4
Not only great acting, but hilarious. It is good to be able to laugh at ourselves. I found the characters lovable, real, and sometimes unreal. Focusing on the tragedy in life has its place to taking it seriously and to heart. While laughing at our self does not diminish or take the place of healing and helping one another, embracing who we are through the good and bad, healthy and unhealthy, is when we are truly embracing and accepting the humanness of our self and others. Life is imperfect and having a sense of humor about it while we try to grow to perfection is the right path for me. I love this movie! Thank you to the actors, producers, and directors for Sordid Lives.
melorene
Being from that area (in between Big Spring, Abilene & Snyder), I related 100% to this movie. In fact, I could give each character a different name because I do believe I grew up next door to these people. My favorite is Juanita putting her lipstick on with her cigarette in her mouth. I laughed so hard. AND I'm practicing that very trick myself. I watched it five times over the weekend. I'm renting the movie this weekend to take home so my redneck hick family can watch it. I'm SURE they are going to love it, too. I'm just waiting for the sequel. I really want to know where Brother Boy went and what happened to all of those people with their sordid lives. Bring us a sequel!!
AD
