Sandra Bullock, Gene Rowlands, and Mae Whitman were totally wasted talents in this badly scripted and edited movie.. I keep wondering what might have been, what could have been, what SHOULD have been given the premise: Former small Southern town beauty queen returns home after national dumping by her philandering husband and her "best friend" on cheesy TV talk show..No wonder Rosanna Arquette didn't want her name in the credits as the homewrecker Connie!
Being from a small Southern town, I found the gossip and lasciviousness to be pretty true to form (if Birdie(Sandra) developed any nudies in the photo shop, she was to make an extra copy for the old geezer that owned the place). Other than a few acid-dripping remarks that were on target, the rest of the movie was a horrible disappointment.
Sandra's character is accused of drinking several times in the film, and although no alcohol consumption is seen or hinted at except for one bar scene, it certainly would have explained the zombie-like shadows of characters.
We are left hanging with a bare bones plot, husband and his lover humiliate wife on T.V., she packs up small daughter and heads for the comforts of home with mother. Comforts?? I didn't see any. Gene Rowlands was funny, in an eccentric way, but the eccentricities seemed to be pulled from a bag of bad writer's tricks. We are supposed to believe that Birdie fell in love again with the High School sweetheart that she dumped for the no-good Bill, but all I could think was, "If this man's house was on fire, would he move fast enough to get out, and would he even have the emotional fortitude to care?" The love interest had no sparks, no believability, and very little on the beam. I can see why he didn't make it in California as an architect. Heck, he can't even find steady employment in Smithville (too slow, they rightfully say).
The only bright spot was little Mae Whitman, the small daughter, whom many will recognize as Casey from "When A Man Loves A Woman" (GREAT MOVIE!), Sara from "Chicago Hope", and Patricia from "Independence Day". I hope to see Mae again soon in a good movie..it's a sad day when the only actress in a star-filled cast doing much acting is knee high to a grasshopper.
I am a woman, and usually like touchy, feely, humanistic stories about everyday life, but there was very little life here. I am extremely disappointed when I mentally compare what could have been and what was. IF I had paid full theater ticket prices to see this, I would have felt ripped off in the extreme. "Places In The Heart" is an example of a similar movie that WORKS!
Being from a small Southern town, I found the gossip and lasciviousness to be pretty true to form (if Birdie(Sandra) developed any nudies in the photo shop, she was to make an extra copy for the old geezer that owned the place). Other than a few acid-dripping remarks that were on target, the rest of the movie was a horrible disappointment.
Sandra's character is accused of drinking several times in the film, and although no alcohol consumption is seen or hinted at except for one bar scene, it certainly would have explained the zombie-like shadows of characters.
We are left hanging with a bare bones plot, husband and his lover humiliate wife on T.V., she packs up small daughter and heads for the comforts of home with mother. Comforts?? I didn't see any. Gene Rowlands was funny, in an eccentric way, but the eccentricities seemed to be pulled from a bag of bad writer's tricks. We are supposed to believe that Birdie fell in love again with the High School sweetheart that she dumped for the no-good Bill, but all I could think was, "If this man's house was on fire, would he move fast enough to get out, and would he even have the emotional fortitude to care?" The love interest had no sparks, no believability, and very little on the beam. I can see why he didn't make it in California as an architect. Heck, he can't even find steady employment in Smithville (too slow, they rightfully say).
The only bright spot was little Mae Whitman, the small daughter, whom many will recognize as Casey from "When A Man Loves A Woman" (GREAT MOVIE!), Sara from "Chicago Hope", and Patricia from "Independence Day". I hope to see Mae again soon in a good movie..it's a sad day when the only actress in a star-filled cast doing much acting is knee high to a grasshopper.
I am a woman, and usually like touchy, feely, humanistic stories about everyday life, but there was very little life here. I am extremely disappointed when I mentally compare what could have been and what was. IF I had paid full theater ticket prices to see this, I would have felt ripped off in the extreme. "Places In The Heart" is an example of a similar movie that WORKS!