SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

ShangLuda Admirable film.

SnoopyStyle Faltering singing star Meg Magrath (Jessica Lange) return home to Hazlehurst, Mississippi for a visit. Her sister Rebecca "Babe" (Sissy Spacek) had just been arrested for shooting her overbearing husband. Her other spinster sister Lenny (Diane Keaton) has been caring for their elderly grandfather who raised the girls after their mother's suicide. The grandfather is in the hospital on his death bed as the court case against Babe moves ahead. Chick Boyle (Tess Harper) is the nosy cousin and Doc Porter (Sam Shepard) is the dashing neighbor.There is an incongruity between the slapstick wacky comedic tone and the darkness of the material. They work together seamlessly in the great black comedies. In this case, I am conflicted about the shooting incident. The carefree attitude about the case seems out of touch with the seriousness of the charge. The simple fix should be that Babe only fires a warning shot. The husband can still over-reach by demanding attempted murder charges but the girls would be well within their rights to take the case lightly. Anyways, the mother's suicide provides plenty of dark material all by itself. The lax attitude is a cause of annoyance to me. Otherwise, these are great actresses and I do love their chemistry. They have easy sisterly relationships and their back-and-forth are great. I just dislike the careless attitude towards shooting the husband.

Rockwell_Cronenberg Honestly, there's not a lot to say about this film. Sissy Spacek, Diane Keaton and Jessica Lange star as three Southern sisters who reunite when one (Spacek) shoots her husband. The sisters are, of course, incredibly different and their personalities collide over the course of a few days, dealing with what Spacek's character has done while old feuds come to the surface. Clearly based on a play, most of the action takes place in the same house and the film puts everything on the shoulders of the three central women.Keaton plays Lenny, the matriarch of the trio (both of their parents are deceased and their grandfather who raised them is in the hospital) who is socially inept and often gets stepped on by her siblings. Lange is Meg, the popular and outgoing wild girl, man-eater and failed actress. Spacek rounds it out as the potentially insane and murderous Babe. Tess Harper steals her few scenes as Chick Boyle, who lives next door to the house, but the whole thing is centered around the three sisters and that's what makes it work. The film never takes itself too seriously, despite it's morbid themes and narrative, and the women all do a marvelous job of bringing the laughs mostly without overdoing it.Crimes of the Heart is a film that on paper doesn't appeal to my tastes at all, but I often found myself cracking up at the ridiculousness of these characters. The women play the characters as straight as possible, approaching them as characters rather than jokes, and this helps make it an enjoyable experience as opposed to a grating one, although Keaton does overdo it at times. The characters are erratic and very large, which opens itself up to potential disaster, but in selecting the proper actresses for each role they were able to make it an entertaining little movie. It's a simple, light and enjoyable film; certainly nothing memorable and I'm sure I won't be thinking about it at all in a few days, but a nice experience while it lasts.

julieannerosner Based on the successful play this film gathered an ensemble of some of the most talented actors and actresses of our time, which includes Sissy Spacek, Sam Shepard, Tess Harper, Diane Keaton, and Jessica Lange. Taking place in the south, we follow the story of a family's relationship and how they are dealing with their sister shooting her husband. With the strong female cast we can't help but to feel their pain through their emotions, relationship with each other, and how they deal with life. Great strong character choices, yet sisters with something even greater in common....love of family, and loyalty. There are many lessons to learn in this film and one of the most important is you can't turn your back on your family, even when you run away they will be there for you. The acting is superb, the honesty is great and in all a wonderful film to see. A true classic and if you haven't seen the play, read it or rented it.....do it now...you won't be disappointed.

moonspinner55 Beth Henley's award-winning play about 'family' (her favorite topic) gets a cheeky, somewhat condescending screen-adaptation, with very little sensitivity or subtlety but a lot of Southern brawling. The story concerns three idiosyncratic sisters, and the trio of fine actresses in these roles are almost pitilessly miscast. Diane Keaton is the spinsterish one (though she's too young for the part), Jessica Lange is the sultry one (though she's too old for the part), and Sissy Spacek is the troubled one (though she's too sane for the part). I can't think of one thing that looks right, sounds right, or goes right in this picture. The production budget seems low and the script feels half-baked. The whole thing left me thinking, maybe "Steel Magnolias" wasn't so bad after all! *1/2 from ****