User reviews

There are a lot of movies that get released that sport a cast of known actors but for whatever reason gets shoved straight to video. Sometimes it's obvious why but others end up being really entertaining and make no sense they didn't get a bigger push. The latest The Hot Flashes features Brooke Shields, Daryl Hannah, Wanda Sykes, Andrea Frankle, Camryn Manheim, Virginia Madsen, and Eric Roberts and is sponsored American Cancer Society but does it make for a good film?

The Hot Flashes follows an under-appreciated group of middle-aged women, all former high school champs who challenge the current arrogant high school girls' state champs to a series of games to raise money for breast cancer prevention. This movie is actually pretty entertaining for what it is, but is never really able to step out of feeling like some sort of Lifetime movie. That isn't such a bad thing, but given the cast involved you would kind of expect more. Everyone here delivers some fun performances and seems to be having a great time but the movie itself just seems to struggle to really find its footing. Some of the film is a drama while other aspects are a comedy, but never really commits to either. Most of this film is pretty predictable, but thanks to the cast it entertains in somewhat of an awkward way at times as they try to pull this team together. There are all the clichéd characters for this kind of film and they build up numerous situations, but only some of them are resolved at the end. There are some you just let go or let your imagination fill in the gaps but there are others that have a pretty strong build up and they seem to get lax and rush the resolution.

This is one of those movies that will find a particular audience that will love it and others that will probably skip it all together, but no matter which of these categories you fall in, you are sure to be entertained in this quirky comedy. It plays most things safe, but still tries to craft a story in recognition of some important subject matter and the film deserves its shot for that alone.

"Anyone who says menopause isn't the most divine time in a woman's life is a pessimist." Beth Humphrey (Shields) is a mother who is going through an early menopause and is not happy about it. She is trying to figure out what to do with her life when she finds out that the local free breast cancer screening truck is in danger of closing. She decides to get a team of women together to take on the state champs in a basketball game to raise money. I will open by saying that I am not the target audience for this movie. I am mid-thirties male but I will say that I didn't think this was that bad. I did find some of it funny but again the jokes weren't really for me. The message of this movie is inspiring and does leave you feeling good even though the movie is very predictable. The one thing I can say about this is that it would have been very good as a Lifetime movie instead of a direct-to-DVD movie. Overall, better then I expected but I think if you are the audience this is going for you will really like it. I give it a B-.

There is a sharp comic satire buried beneath the clichés and underwhelming effect Susan Seidelman's The Hot Flashes leaves on a viewer. Despite a capable directing effort on her part and the cast's evident enthusiasm for the material, this is a comedy that plays things safely and one that never is funnier than the idea of a basketball team called "The Hot Flashes." There's enough in the film to hold interest but not enough to cordially recommend.

The plot centers around Beth (Brooke Shields), a middle-aged woman currently going through menopause, and her family, made up of her husband (Eric Roberts) and her daughter. When Beth, who is known to take up numerous hobbies, however, not known to carry them out in a meaningful way, realizes that the local mammogram unit will be closing due to lack of financing on her part, she decides to form a basketball team called "The Hot Flashes" with several girls from her quiet Texas town named "Burning Bush." The goal in mind is for the team to play the championship school basketball team and raise $25,000 to save the mammogram unit.

As upsetting as this will be for some people to hear, the thematic idea that "women can do more than men" is hardly as subversive as it was so many years ago. While films should exist that show off a strong central female or more, having a film predicated off that idea and nothing more is beginning to become tiresome. The Hot Flashes even manages to downplay its central premise of menopause, offering little comedic or dramatic points about the inevitable, life-changing stage women must go through, only offering the redundant piece of optimism that despite menopausal setbacks they still have game.

I recently watched a film called Coffee Town, which was a simple, pleasant comedy centered around three characters who spend their days at the local cafe, using it as a free-office with Wi-Fi, coffee, and all the baked goods they need. While a tad vulgar, the film managed to disregard the idea that a film needs to be oppressively raunchy in order to be funny. The Hot Flashes does something similar to Coffee Town, which is make most of the characters possess wholesome morality, or at least a moral compass. Not to mention, their southern drawl is a sweet diversion from the city-slicking bawdiness that has been commonplace in cinema recently. And it's always nice to see a film maturely explore the reality of age as well as the optimistic way of looking at it.

But that doesn't excuse the idea that The Hot Flashes feels like Bridesmaids without a bite and that isn't because of the lack of language, sexual content, or gross-out humor. It's because Bridesmaids manages to try and make its characters come to life, using real-life situations and bittersweet reality. The characters in The Hot Flashes know they're getting older and there's no true reality to face since they're constantly reminding themselves they still have it. Not to mention, it doesn't help that the team itself is composed of the good mother, the sassy black lady, the chubby girl with the foul-mouthed, the town tramp, and the simple cowgirl.

Starring: Brooke Shields, Daryl Hannah, Virginia Madsen, Wanda Sykes, Eric Roberts, Mark Povinelli, and Camryn Manheim. Directed by: Susan Seidelman.

I enjoyed this a lot. It may be no better than a silly TV movie, but for what this is, the acting and writing are good. Of course it's a formula. I like the formula.

There is also an inspiring story. Nothing come easy for the women, but then everything seems to work out eventually. only in the movies.

And there are a number of moral dilemmas. The girls have to do everything they can to sabotage what the women are doing, right? But what about the cause the women are fighting for? Well, there is one other reason the girls might see the light.

And it's not all funny. There is some unexpected drama, but even that seems to work out in a good way.

Brooke Shields is as good as she ever was. Not a great actress, but good for this type of material. And she still looked amazing. And she was the only one wearing short shorts in practice, though Clementine also wore them in the games.

Beth's husband might be cheating. Wait ... what? She looks like that and he cheats on HER? Not possible. She must be paranoid. Men cheat with women like Beth.

Wanda Sykes and Camryn Manheim are more highly regarded as actresses, and they're both good here.

I do have one complaint. Too much rap music. The games between the women and the girls were accompanied by music that to me isn't music. Now the first game played, between two high school teams, had "We Got the Beat" by The Go-Gos--even though that's from the era when the women were in high school. Not typical of my taste, but I like it.

Most of the music in the movie was good, such as the background music with tuba that reminded us we were supposed to be laughing. And square dance music, and real country music.

If you like silly formula comedy, you should enjoy this.

I'm 50 minutes into this movie as I write this review.

Other reviews have said that this movie is hit or miss, you're either going to love it or hate it... As I'm watching a middle aged American woman wrestle with a teenage girl on a basketball court, I'm thinking that the target audience has to be really, really heavy women from the South of America.

For everybody else, watching Brooke Shields play an aging, hick, do-gooder American woman is just going to be depressing.

I'd certainly not bother going to watch this at the theatre, unless you happen to live in the town in which it was filmed, and downloading/renting the DVD is probably not worth your time either.

Go in with low expectations and you'll find this unexpectedly enjoyable. It's a low budget old ladies finding new meanings movie. The acting ranges from good to bad and the story moves at a moderate pace. I actually quite enjoy watching this as a background noise while doing some work. Doesn't require much brain power and has a couple of good laughs.

The cast is impressive, realistic humor and believable underdog sports comedy.Because of typical Mean Grrl bullies,there are a few derogatory sexual/racial comments by a few bullies but it pushes the movie forward.Its underrated,inspiring if not ridiculous.Its a good movie,to watch and laugh.Just enjoy it :)

Beth Humphrey (Brooke Shields) and her husband (Eric Roberts) cheer on their daughter's high school basketball team. Her late friend's mobile mammography van is shutting down to the lack of state funding. They need $25k in donations. She reunites her late friend's teammates to play charity games against the state champs 30 years their junior. Ginger Peabody (Daryl Hannah) is closeted. Florine Clarkston (Wanda Sykes) is the mayor who took over after her white husband's death. Roxie Rosales (Camryn Manheim) is the weed momma. Clementine Winks (Virginia Madsen) is a lot of people's ex-wives. They call themselves the Hot Flashes. Millie Rash (Jessica Rothe) is the mean girl leader of the high school team.

I tries to have heart but I don't think I love these characters. They're alright but they need something more. The mean girl opponent helps. It tries to have jokes but it's mostly not funny. I don't mind this but it's not anything. It is nice to have these older actresses get together but it would be even better if this movie is actually good.

I really enjoyed The Hot Flashes. I loved the relationships between and among the women and the empowering message it sends to people of all ages. There are far too few movies with women in central roles and I hope that people will go out and see it so more will get made. I went with my seventeen year old daughter and it was great to see her cheer for fifty year old women playing basketball. I absolutely support the central theme of breast cancer prevention and I loved seeing it played out on the big screen. Yes the jokes were a little silly and unnecessarily raunchy at times, but it was generally a fun, women oriented, feel good comedy. Go out and see it; bring your daughters, bring your sons, and cheer loudly together.

''A group of middle aged women play basketball and prove a point.'' And that is, with not many other words, the entire movie. The entire 90 minutes you sit there, there are no other plots, no other events, no other nothing. Just that. 5 middle aged women playing basketball to raise some money for charity. The first half of the movie seems a bit interesting, as the actions happen in different places, the dialogs are varied, but then , in the second half of the movie, things become, let's say, static. It only focuses on the gym where the games are played and that's it. Quite boring for 45 minutes. And even worse, the ending is ridiculously predictable, it doesn't give any thrill. Important is that there are no useless scenes, everything that happens, matters. All in all, if you are just trying to waste the next hour and a half, I am quite sure that you can find something more thrilling than this.

I thought it would be fun until I saw the blatant Gay agenda, and the anti Christian rhetoric.

This movie had potential but was filled with clichés,big as the Grand Canyon.

It wasn't all that funny,raunchy but more a sad attempt(using age)for humor.

Don't get me wrong things involving age,can be relatable but is it.. Movie production worthy?

Why did they need to add the storyline,about a cheating husband with the mean-girl parent? It actually took away from the plot itself.

Oh sure it gave her(Shields)& ladies much self-discovery,bonding & working towards a meaningful goal.

Glad she(Shields)didn't cave and take the husband back or with conditions,but again avoidable story.

Reminded me of a less quality movie version of POMS,go check that out & decide for yourself.

Cinematography & acting ok but felt it should of been great with actors chosen,but not worth seeing again.

I usually despise movies that try to promote a political agenda and unfortunately this one does it a little. However, it is a fun, feel good movie and the other non poltical health message is beautiful.

Susan Seidelman's gem of a comedy tells a story that run-of-the-mill Hollywood flicks are loath to tell: The story of underdogs such as women of colour, queer women, women of a certain class, and most notably women of a certain age. This movie challenges the viewer by making its subject a demographic of people who are grossly underrepresented in film and media, and yet it's hardly a shocking or radical film. Seidel brings us to the American heartland where we find ourselves welcomed by surprisingly believable characters (for the most part) in outrageously comic situations.

The film had plenty of laugh-out-loud moments: in particular, the cheerleaders, the second game, and Wanda Sykes' hair moments. Actually, everything Wanda Sykes says and does in this movie is a riot. However, it could have been funnier. The jokes are there, but sometimes their delivery isn't quite ostentatious enough to really knock them out of the park. Also, though most of the characters were quite believable (especially Camryn Manheim's character, Roxie), other important characters such as the antagonist mom whose name I forget were a bit two-dimensional, and some of the dialogues felt a bit lazy. Honestly, if this movie had been about a group of middle aged guys returning to basketball to raise money for prostate cancer, all other things the same, I probably would have given the movie a 6 or 7. But seeing a feel-good comedy that actually celebrates women (in a suffocating media environment where relegating female roles to either sex goddess, love interest/love obsessed, or obsessive villain is the norm) is such a welcomed and needed breath of fresh air that its occasional cinematic mediocrity can be overlooked. Now, if only Hollywood could make a movie with the spirit/guts of this flick combined with the technical prowess of a movie like the Avengers...

Saw this last night at the USA Film Festival in Dallas. Wasn't aware of the director's background until she was introduced before the viewing. But she is impressive! The PSA encouraging women to get their annual mammogram is really funny as is the movie. The whole theater laughed and actually cheered during the basketball game sequences. My husband had to shush me when I kept cheering the great shots made by the Hot Flashes. These five women put in lots of hard work to become so proficient on the court, although there was probably a lot of footage left on the editing room floor. If it were not for a brief "sex" scene and the hilarious off color jokes, I would love to take my 11 year old granddaughter to see this to encourage her budding career!

This movie is like comfort food to any (intelligent) woman going thru menopause. How many movies can say that? Progressive and interesting on a number of different levels. Real life with no pretense, no plastic surgery. The cast is fabulous. Brooke Shields, Wanda Sykes, Daryl Hannah and Virginia Madsen, they are all interesting and should have been more developed as characters. And Mark Povinelli as the ex-veterinarian/coach? Kidnapping dogs to clean their teeth? Yes! Moonlight rescue! So progressive, pro tolerance, pro kindness. Of course the idea of charity basketball games to fund the mobile unit screening for breast cancer is great, but there is so much more here. Eric Roberts is a very believable character but he was a little obsessed with his hair. I mean, what man plays with his hair like that? Whatever. This movie is specifically wonderful from a human kindness/tolerance prospective. Bravo!

This is a sweet movie that has some truly funny moments.

It's a great cast of likeable women "of a certain age" we remember from their younger days mostly: Brooke Shields, Darryl Hannah, Virginia Madsen. With a name like The Hot Flashes, it's not a spoiler to say the opening sequence does a credibly interesting job of showing the onset of a hot flash.

The premise is a menopausal Brooke Shields reuniting the high school girls basketball team of 30+ years ago to raise money to save the local mammogram mobile. It's a feel good movie that hits gently on very female concerns. I thought it moved along nicely and was worth the watch.

Beth - Brooke Shields - is still mourning the loss of a close friend who passed away from breast cancer. In addition, the Mobile mammogram clinic that Beth helped support in her small city in Texas is slated to close. It seems Beth didn't realize she needed to apply for a renewable grant each year. Beth vows to save the clinic. But, how? The local high school has a title winning girls basketball team, with Beth's daughter taking part. Once a round baller herself, Beth challenges this team with other older former teammates, as a fund raiser. Three games wins the match. Reluctant at first, Beth convinces the older gals to work as a team and recruits others to help along the way. Other challenges such as infidelity, old grudges, and more work against these gals, named the Hot Flashes. Can they pull it off? This enjoyable movie has a nice cast, a humorous script, and most of all, a message of the importance of screening women for breast cancer. It sure is hard to find a film that tops that winning combination for an evenings view.