GareThere

Geraldine Page won the Best Actress Oscar for this film in 1985. And it's no wonder why. The movie almost unfolds as a Broadway play. It may seem depressing at first, but that's the gift that Geraldine has in portraying the emotions of an aging Southern mother who yearns to return to the small town she left in Texas many many years before. For whatever reason, this film hits an emotional chord with me because Geraldine Page reminds me so much of my maternal grandmother. If you're into fast paced, action flicks - or comic farces, you won't like this film. But, if you really appreciate character development that slowly unfolds and develops in a film, you should not pass up this one!

I went to a preview screening of this movie in LA this weekend. And, I must say this is one of the few times people in the audience openly booed at the end of the movie, particularly loudly when the Director's name appeared on the screen. What's wrong with it: First: it's too long, I don't think anything was edited out of the film - it should have been only 90 minutes long, not three hours. Second: While the acting by nearly everyone in the film is excellent, the plot was ridiculous and unbelievable - and at the end of the film you realize nobody in the film is an admirable person in the least. Third: Initially, I was impressed with the staging of the film, assuming it was a prologue to the actual movie. But the staging looses it's appeal after about 30 minutes, and becomes trying and tired. As I was leaving the theater I mentioned to the two friends who joined me (that will probably NEVER let me choose a movie we see together again) "This was one of the worst movies I've seen in a long time" people walking out around me actually gave me the high sign.

I saw this film at the Bermuda Independent Film Festival in 2002. And, I keep waiting for it to come out on video so I can buy it.

This movie starts out a bit slow, but before you know it, you're so captivated by the characters and story. It will make you laugh, it will make you angry and it will make you cry. Once it gets going, mostly it will make you laugh.

Three sisters go home for their mother's funeral. Sounds like a "girl's movie" but it's not. Each one has a strong personality and has her own issues with herself and each of her sisters - not to mention her deceased mother, who has passed away before the movie begins.

I don't want to give too much of the plot away - but this is a movie worth seeing several times, and sharing with friends.