If you want to watch a film that makes you feel feelings, I recommend Steel Magnolias. This 1989 movie, starring Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Julia Roberts, Olympia Dukakis, and Shirley MacLaine, and directed by Herbert Ross, follows five friends and neighbors living in a small town in Louisiana. The plot follows the group of friends as they struggle with Shelby’s (Roberts) decision to have a child despite dealing with serious potential health risks. I must admit that seeing Dolly Parton in a movie threw me off at first but once I got used to her character running a hairdresser out of her home she won me over. My personal favorite scene was a very intense one that involved Sally Field’s character, M’Lynn, sobbing and yelling in a cemetery. The scene actually moved me to tears. God bless Sally. I also personally enjoyed the friendship between Ouiser (MacLaine) and Clairee (Dukakis). I hope when I’m a bitter 70-something I have a best friend like Clairee. I also just loved MacLaine’s performance as Ouiser in general. Another reason I enjoyed Steel Magnolias so much, besides the excellent nearly all-female cast, was because of the roller coaster of emotions that I experienced throughout the film.
Clairee and Ouiser in their usual spat. Source.
Whether I was scoffing at Annelle’s religious demands or practically sobbing while watching Shelby’s funeral, I felt that the movie did a good job of exposing life as it often is: sad, funny, frustrating, ridiculous, and beautiful. If you like badass southern ladies, watch Steel Magnolias. You might shed a tear or two and you might feel more emotionally attuned for it.
My rating: 8/10
Trailer:
(Actually) Lost in Translation 