Miss Firecracker

After my first viewing of this film I came away disappointed, but Holly Hunter's sound performance induced me to watch it again. A second viewing left me with the impression that it was an opportunity lost to produce a first class movie. A poor performance from a star like Tim Robbins, who has played outstanding roles in other movies, leads me to suspect that the fault lies with the director.

Holly Hunter rose to the occasion to make the film worth while. I would recommend that anyone watching this movie should focus there attention on Holly Hunter's flawless performance and ignore weak moments that occur from time to time elsewhere.

I would purchase the DVD again and classify it as a "keeper".

A much under-rated movie: both a satire on the sheer awfulness of small-town pageants, and a poignant yet ultimately hopeful romance about talented misfits coming to terms with their nature. A minor criticism is that it suffers from the usual movie cliche: characters who are supposed to be plain - in this case, Holly Hunter and Alfre Woodard - who are the most charismatic people in the movie. Highlight: the amazing dance routine by Hunter. I'm an old cynic, but the ending was both iconoclastic and beautifully feelgood.

Carnelle has lived in Yazoo City, Mississippi in her aunt and uncle's house since she was orphaned as a child. She grew up with her cousins Delmount (Tim Robbins) and Elain (Mary Steenburgen).

Delmount comes home from a mental institution and wants to sell the family home. Elain comes home from Atlanta where she has her own problems. Elain won the Miss Firecracker beauty pageant years ago. Carnelle decides to enter the pageant in her last official year with regards to her age.

Alfre Woodard played Popeye Wilson, a seamstress, who has a crush on Delmount. The film is rich in character development and this film should be shown around the Fourth of July summertime. Ann Wedgeworth played a pageant coordinator. The film was done in 1989 after an off-Broadway play of the same name. The film is heartwarming about really winning. Carnelle wanted to redeem herself and reputation.

I might have enjoyed this movie more had I not already been very familiar with The Miss Firecracker Contest, the award-winning play on which the screenplay is based. The play is as neat and compact as the film is muddled and overblown. I loved the play and was disappointed to see that some of my favorite elements were changed for the film. The play is set in Brookhaven, MS, has a cast of six, and plays like a symphony with recurring themes and a distinct rhythm. The film moves the action to Yazoo City, a somewhat more industrial setting, so it loses some of the "southern charm" of the play. The film shows us the other contestants, the audience members, and various other members of the community. This "carnival atmosphere" distracts us from the core issues of the play, which are Carnelle's relationship with her family and her need to find her place in the world. Although I feel that Alfre Woodard did a stellar job in portraying Popeye Jackson, this role was originally written as a very backwoods white girl. The change to a black character made it impossible to keep the very sweet romance between her and Delmount in the screenplay. In the film, Elaine, played marvelously by Mary Steenburgen, displays a certain mean streak which is absent in the play.

In conclusion, Miss Firecracker is a very well-acted but overly busy adaptation of a beautifully succinct play about a very eccentric southern family. I recommend the movie for the performances of Holly Hunter, Mary Steenburgen, Tim Robbins, and especially, Alfre Woodard. I also recommend reading or seeing the play to really understand the core characters and their relationships to one another.

Based on the play of the same name, Miss Firecracker stars Holly Hunter repeating her off-Broadway stage role, along with Mary Steenburgen, Tim Robbins, Alfre Woodward, Scott Glenn, and Ann Wedgeworth.

This film is about a small Southern town and its beauty pageant, which takes place on the 4th of July.

It's not a coincidence that the playwright, Beth Henley, has the pageant held on Independence Day, because that's what the film is really about. Independence from the opinions of others, independence from the ties of what someone has set as a standard of beauty, the independence to explore and find yourself.

Carnelle Scott is a young local woman, and she believes that if she can be Miss Firecracker, she will receive the validation she has always craved, and then leave the town and go onto success elsewhere. She has no friends in town, and her reputation is not the best. She has a boyfriend who adores her (Glenn) but it isn't enough.

One inspiration for her is her cousin, Elain, and there, Carnelle doesn't see the forest for the trees. Elain is a past Miss Firecracker. She's not only totally self-involved, but her life is built around her past victories. To Carnelle, Elain's life is perfect.

Elain's brother is the volatile Delmount (Robbins) who wants to sell the house Carnelle lives in. He'll split the money with her. He was released from a mental institution; Elain and her husband refused to take him in.

Since this is the last year Carnelle is eligible, she decides to go for the pageant in a big way. And one thing she wants is to wear the bright red evening gown that Elain wore when she won; she has even dyed her hair bright red to match it.

Carnelle's major support comes from Popeye Jackson (Woodward), a young woman who wears Coke bottle glasses and works in a dress shop. Popeye helps Carnelle be outfitted for the pageant, and develops a crush on Delmount.

Though the character of Carnelle is the focus of the film, the one to be emulated is Popeye - kind, helpful, and uncaring about people's appearance. She's more interested in what's inside. And hopefully along the way this is what Carnelle learns as well.

Very sweet film and Hunter is dynamite as Carnelle. The movie is bigger than the play, which may not have been the best option for it. The direction by Thomas Schlamme, who has found great success in television, is only so-so. It should be a tighter production.

Don't miss Carnelle's part in the talent competition.