Steel Magnolias

This movie may truly be one of the worst. The acting is HORRIBLE!!It's worse than horrible-there truly are no words. Nothing about it works. The funny thing is, it was so bad that I found myself not able to tear myself away from it, wondering if it could get any worse. I was especially interested to see how the actress would portray Shelby's hypoglycemic attack. Sigh. My expectations were not high, and it's a good thing. I know type I diabetics and her reaction (staring into space all wide-eyed and in a trance)just could not be more off. It was at this point, I just couldn't take it anymore and had to change the channel.

I have never heard such fake southern accents! As a GRITS, and a Black female, let me just say culturally speaking ,especially for women of a certain generation, the names Shelby and Jackson would have NEVER been used! This entire remake was like making Gone With The Wind with an ASIAN cast, just UNBELIEVABLE! and totally RIDICULOUS!!

With the exception of Queen Latifa, Alfre Woodward and Felicia Rashad, there was not a single actor in this movie who had any grasp on their character. The old familiar lines are delivered abrasively, almost sarcastically, like not a one of them understand the undertones. I cannot say how many times over the years I have watched the original and I still love it, crying and laughing along with those ladies. I still don't understand why they thought they needed to remake a classic, but to do it so badly is a crime. Most disturbing of all is Shelby is comes off not just abrasive, but ugly inside, not at all what the character of Shelby is and there is zero chemistry between her and her mother. All in all, this remake was a fail, a major disappointment. It lacks the chemistry between the group of women; instead of filling the soul, it just tears into it with desperation.

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.

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.