A Very Sordid Wedding

Now and then we all could use a feel-good movie. Reality is deeply overrated, especially when shoved down our throats on daily basis. "A Very Sordid Movie" is not so sordid, quite the opposite. It's hilariously funny, smartly paced, poking fun at the homey, down South baloney. It's all fun and games until the script got to the potholes no car should drive on. It got kind of preachy, that works only on previously converted (hence no point to it at all), schmaltzy and frankly cloying. It is a damn shame that a person who wrote all of those funny lines got stuck on the most predictable and trite plot line. Not everything has to have a happy ending to feel good. Sometimes just stirring up trouble does the trick.

A Very Sordid Wedding (2017) was written and directed by Del Shores. In 2000, Shores directed Sordid Lives, and, after that, there was a Sordid Lives series on LOGO. (Everyone in the theater apparently knew all about LOGO, but I had to look it up.)

Before we saw the movie, we read the publicity that told us that there was a backstory to this new movie. However, for us the movie was hilarious, so you can enjoy it without knowing the backstory.

The film is set in Winters, Texas. It's a great example of a conservative, Bible-oriented small town. However, there are some dissenting people among the crowd.

One of them is Latrelle Williamson, played perfectly by Bonnie Bedelia. The other cast members are also very good actors, including Leslie Jordan as Earl 'Brother Boy' Ingram, and Emerson Collins as Billy Joe Dobson.

Whoopi Goldberg has an important cameo role as Rev. Abernatha Coleman.

This is the type of movie that's hard to describe. Something funny happens, and then something funnier happens, and then all hell breaks loose. It will work on the small screen, but it would be better in a theater. This isn't because of the larger image. It's because once an audience starts to laugh during a movie like this, the laughter builds on itself, and everything appears even funnier. (In fact, if you see the movie on the small screen, invite some friends over to watch it with you.)

Del Shores and Emerson Collins attended the screening and participated in a Q&A session afterwards. I didn't have a question, but I had a comment: "My compliments on portraying a serial killer in such a way that you felt sympathy, rather than anger, towards him." That couldn't have been easy.

We saw this film at Rochester's excellent Little Theatre, as part of Image Out, the great Rochester LGBT Film Festival. This is a wonderful movie, and worth seeking out.

An anti bigotry film is very welcomed, but this film is horrendous. The characters are foul mouthed, talk all the time and just won't stop being nasty to each other. There is constant bickering, and nonstop negative interactions. It is such a pity that an anti bigotry film ends up being nasty and negative.

I was going thru movies looking for a comedy and thought I'd give this one a look. I liked the title and thought I'd check it out. I only recognized a couple of actors in it, but it did not disappoint. It was laugh out loud funny. So many movies I've tried to watch that just make me squirm and turn them off because they aren't funny and no one can actually act in them. This has some unforgettable characters and the actors are great. A little over the top at times, but still fun to watch. Id recommend if you want a Movie that will make you laugh and characters you would like to see again, the. Check this one out.

A VERY SORDID WEDDING

SORDID LIVES (2000) became a cult classic almost as soon as it was released. Subsequent to that film hit, a one season tv series was launched. Some of the original film cast repeated their roles, others were replaced.

A VERY SORDID WEDDING (2017) is a follow-up to the original, focusing on healing relationships and bringing about some happy endings. This is all in the context of gay marriage and anti-equality faith denominations denying human rights.

The writing is a bit preachy and heavy-handed, considering if you are seeing the film, you are probably not a right-wing anti-gay conservative, who needs educating.

The iconic roles of Latrelle (Bonnie Bedalia), Sissie (Dale Dickey), and LaVonda (Ann Walker) are more than ably filled by these superb actresses. Bedalia is even better than she was in the original, which is almost hard to realize as she stole that film with her barely controlled hysteria.

Leslie Jordan is back as Brother Boy, attempting to win a drag competition with his one-man, three women (Wynette, Lynn, Parton) show, and just as nobly outrageous as before. Producer/Actor Emerson Collins in a small role as a serial killer gives a stunning performance in a few brief scenes. (I've seen him in other Del Shores productions and he is quite a chameleon and a seemingly brilliant actor.)

My only gripe is that 17 years after the original, Kirk Geiger (aged 48 at the time of filming), has aged facially to the point where pairing him with T. Ashanti Mozelle (33 at the time) seems a December/May romance. It would have felt more appropriate for an older actor to be cast opposite Mr. Geiger, who having originated the role or Ty, should have been retained at all costs in the sequel.

Is it as much fun as the original? No, not really. The gay issue in the original was one of many plot and character story lines. Here it is all anyone is talking about and the film suffers from heavy-handedness, leading to boredom, on a number of occasions.

I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who has not seen and liked the original. Fun for those of us who have, but hardly a mind blowing experience.