Steel Magnolias

I tried, really I tried, to enjoy this version. I didn't. About half way through it I was checking the time to see how much more there was to it. I kept hoping it would get better. In the original, The characters had a chemistry that enhanced their performances. You believed they liked each other, and were longtime friends. There was something missing, the attachment the characters were supposed to have for each other seemed forced. The actress playing Shelby missed the character's sense of humor and play, as well as her determination to live a normal life, despite having a devastating chronic illness. The scene in the cemetery in the original where there was laughter through tears is classic. You can't duplicate that.

I absolutely love the original, but I hated the remake. The actresses failed to make the characters their own. There was so sentiment, no character development, no connection between them.

The original film has two strong scenes that they absolutely ruined in the remake. One, was the Shelby's seizure. Julia Roberts was amazing and didn't fear do push her limits. Rashad acted like she was drunk staring at nothing. No to mention the fact that Truvy poked her. I am not kidding. The moment Shelby starts having the seizure she pokes her.

Latifah may be a good actress but the role of M'Lynn was simply not for her. The highlight of the movie is her outburst. Shally Field was phenomenal during that scene. You could hear and feel her pain. Latifah said the words, but there was no emotion behind them.

The character of Shelby can be wrapped up in just one line. "I would rather have thirty minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special". Once again, they kept that quote hidden for the ending where it lost it's meaning.

I hated how they left out Spud and his confession in the end that he can't live without his wife. Anyway, I wouldn't watch it again. In fact I wanna watch the original once more just to get this fiasko out of my memory.

This is one remake that should have never been considered, let alone done.

First, the casting was all wrong. Why in the world would anyone, including Latifah, think she was the perfect choice to play the role Sallie Field's originated? Of those actresses, Phylicia Rashad would've played it best. Alfre Woodard would have been better playing Clarice and Jenifer Lewis would have been good as Ouiser. I like Jill Scott, I think she is a good actress, and she was good in her role. My issue was with her accent. She should not have attempted a southern accent. The other two actresses weren't bad in their parts. Their accents sucked too, but overall they were not that bad.

The original is a classic. The remake is a travesty.

Sorry, but this movie was bad. I mean really bad. The first movie was lighthearted and uplifting for the most part, making you feel proud of being a Southerner. This one was dark and depressing, and felt more like it was filmed in New York instead of Louisiana. All of the idiosyncrasies and accents that made the original truly Southern were barely existent here.

Alfre Woodard's portrayal of Weezer was more angry than eccentric. Felicia Rashaad's "Clerice" was too reserved. The girl who played the beauty shop assistant was not naive and unrefined enough.

In closing, I love the over the top nature of black comedies in general, and considering the cast that was present, I really expected better. They really did this movie a huge disservice.

I was excited when I saw that they were remaking this movie. I was disappointed 2 minutes into it when I realized that they actually REMADE the movie. It was disappointing, I was anticipating a remake with a twist to make it their own. But a line for line remake with a different cast was a total let down. I loved the original and this with the bad acting just didn't compare. I just don't understand the reason for a remake with an all black cast if they weren't going to make it their own, and thats not being racist. I'm an African American woman myself, it just all seemed so unnatural. They had great actors in the movie it just didn't live up to all of the hype that surrounded it.