Heart of Dixie

The book this shameful, waste-of-time movie was based upon is actually quite good. It's called "Heartbreak Hotel" by Anne Rivers Siddons; she writes often about the South and being a mid-westerner, I'm grateful for some of the history and cultural explanations I've gleaned from her novels. Though she frequently can pour it on pretty thickly with lots of words, I find her character development to be good. That's why this movie was so disappointing; everyone was shallow and one-dimensional, there was no attraction for me to see between Maggie and Hoyt. And the sensationalism of Maggie confronting the black woman was blatant pandering and insulting to any of us who grew up during the civil rights years. Shame on the people who re-wrote a decent, moral book into this trashy screenplay! What a waste of talent and money.

What a stinker. This movie was a total bore. I wanted to like this film because I'm a fan of all of the major characters. However, the characters were totally unbelievable. The Southern accents were laughable. There was no chemistry between any of the actors, let alone the two main stars. The acting was stiff and wooden, and appeared forced. In other words, it looked like they were acting. Poor Ally had a sour looking face the entire film. She must of realized what a stinker this movie was. I'd rate this movie no better then a local high school drama play. If you want to see a movie about racial injustice, rent the DVD classic, To Kill A Mockingbird; don't waste $14.99 buying this mess.

THE HEART OF DIXIE has been called lightweight social-consciousness fare. I would have to agree. If you know anything about the American civil rights movement you will not learn anything new from this movie. Nor will you meet any of the movement's historical figures. This film is not so much about the fight for equality as about the awakening of a new social consciousness in the South. The acting is solid (if melodramatic at times), and the film gives a glimpse of 1950's segregation and the lingering rigid social order of the Old South. A few scenes might be disturbing or offensive to some, but they don't strike me as being out of keeping with the setting and characters. Ally Sheedy is likeable as a southern everygirl journalism student who takes up the civil rights cause after coming face-to-face with the brutality of segregation. Virginia Madsen is believable as a traditional southern vamp, as is Treat Williams as Sheedy's photojournalist mentor. The remaining supporting cast is also credible as an assortment of good ol' boys, aristocrats, southern belles, and black laborers. I was greatly disappointed to find that Phoebe Cates plays only a minor role despite receiving 3rd billing. She is so appealing as outspoken, optimistic, free-spirited rebel Aiken Reed that you have to wonder why her character wasn't put to better use. As it is, she serves primarily as the symbol of a new southern womanhood, eager to throw off the societal mores that have held her back and yearning to come into her own.

There are certainly more powerful and compelling movies about the civil rights movement. Still, THE HEART OF DIXIE is an earnest little film that that bears viewing.

The fake accents were horrible and stereotypical. As a Southerner, I couldn't get past the first 10 minutes. If you want a movie on racial issues, there are much better ones out there.

This film offers the modern viewer born say during the Reagan Administration and well after or into the Civil Rights Movement, a little perspective on what was the socio-political atmosphere in Alabama in 1957, the year in which "Hearts of Dixie" was based. And while this film is no exceptional film by any stretch of the imagination, it is worthy of viewing and comment on several grounds.

For one thing, it reveals the naiveté prevalent among the South and especially young Southerners of the time regarding the race issue, and especially their superficial and almost arrogant attitudes toward it.

The film portrayed these elements with skill and prowess.

The film also examined the social awakening of two of its main and central characters, namely Phoebe Cates' character for one, which was cursorily touched upon, and the role played by Ally Sheehy, the central character in the story. The juxtaposition of her supposed civility and grace mixed with her moral and ethical outrage at the act of injustice at the Elvis concert and afterwards was especially revealing and telling. And her awakening was a true metamorphosis, and the crowd scene shows this, for it allows her Southern-ness to essentially disintegrate and disappear was artful while her new self emerges and into the arms of her hero.

It would appear that the first person who reviewed and panned this film failed to catch as much.

The film itself may have been overacted and a bit contrived, that much is given, but overall the story and screenplay itself was a good and solid one and does not deserve to be panned in the manner in which it was panned. I would urge everyone to view this film with a more critical eye, which means to do so with an eye more toward seeing the film's cinematic merits and detractions and to look beyond just how the actors respond to their roles. For in just regarding an actor's portrayal, you too might be accused of taking the film a little too superficially.