Where The Real Strength Resides

Steel Magnolias (1989) – Four lifelong friends navigate their way through life, death, and aging in a small southern town. Life is not what they expected, often better, sometimes worse.

Directed by Herbert Ross

Starring – Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis, Dolly Parton, Daryl Hannah, Julia Roberts, Tom Skerritt, Sam Shepherd

Why I Liked It – Six brilliant actresses showing how it’s done.

I don’t know where to start with this review. Let’s go with this:

THIS IS BRILLIANT!

Every moment revolves around the long, complicated relationships between the six main characters. They cross a variety of social “boundaries” without a backward glance. They are flawed, brittle, even nasty at times. When everything comes to a boil, they are always there for each other. As her daughter Shelby’s (Roberts) wedding day arrives, M’Lynn (Fields) is wound to her breaking point. Everything has to be perfect for her fragile, diabetic child. Her husband, Drum (Skerritt) and sons are no help, and often active agents of chaos in her world. Around her circle the others, acerbic Ouiser (MacLaine), the wealthy and carefree Clairee (Dukakis), Truvy (Parton), the gentle heart of the group, and her newly hired (but quickly adopted by the group) assistant Annette (Hannah). The drama is deep, the comedy is bright, the performances are stunning.

When I run into other comments on this movie, I know I’ll find complaints about the lack of character development in the male characters. Given that they only barely rise to secondary characters, I find no issue with this. Those familiar with the original stage play that is the foundation of the movie will know that there are NO male actors in the cast. The men are talked about but never seen on stage.

It’s also casually labeled as a “chick flick”. By common definition, such a movie is focused on issues of interest to women, with a focus on younger demographics and love/romance centered stories. I don’t know about the demographics, since most of the cast was well into middle age, but the rest seems to be true. But it’s selling this movie way short. This would be touted as one of the greatest “buddy movies” of all time if the cast were male. The interplay between MacLaine and Dukakis is a joy filled circus of verbal jabs from razor sharp tongues that leads up to a spectacular and warm moment in a cemetery near the end of the film. Annette slowly works her way through a process of growing up, modeled by the raucous group that surrounds her. And that group surrounds Shelby and M’Lynn through every trouble and tragedy that comes.

“Steel Magnolias” is painfully sad, hysterically funny, and the embodiment of the friend group that most of us hope to have in our lives. A tour de force.

Rating – ***** Highest Recommendation