Ginger Ale Afternoon (1989)

Jesse is nine months pregnant and lives with her underemployed husband Hank in a dilapidated mobile home in a rusty trailer park. During an afternoon of talk, Jesse discovers that Hank has ... See full summary »

Director:

Rafal Zielinski

Writer:

Gina Wendkos (play)

Stars:

Dana Andersen, John M. Jackson, Yeardley Smith

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Dana Andersen	...	Jesse Mickers
John M. Jackson	...	Hank Mickers
Yeardley Smith	...	Bonnie Cleator (as Yeardly Smith)
Gene Butler	...	Radio DJ

Storyline

Jesse is nine months pregnant and lives with her underemployed husband Hank in a dilapidated mobile home in a rusty trailer park. During an afternoon of talk, Jesse discovers that Hank has been spending time with Bonnie, their young, bovine neighbor. Jesse is hurt and furious, and Hank is defensive, claiming that the baby has pushed him out. While Hank is elsewhere, the other woman pays a surprise visit to Jesse. Healing begins, and when Jesse's labor starts, it's Bonnie who comes to the rescue.

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Plot Keywords:

trailer park | trailer trash | topless | female nudity | white trash | 

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Taglines:

A comedy that's long overdue!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 August 1989 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Churchill Partners, NeoPictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

Jesse Mickers: Hey! You think he knows what I look like?
Hank Mickers: He don't even have eyes yet.
Jesse Mickers: Well maybe when he's in there floating like they say in my woman juices he can see in the dark without eyes like a cat can.
Hank Mickers: A cat's got eyes.

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Soundtracks

"FLAMIN' MAMIE"
Written by Willie Dixon & Penny Page
Performed by KoKo Taylor

User Reviews

maybe it played better on stage, but I doubt it

Rule of thumb: if it sounds like a play it should also look like a play, which is why this two-character, one-act drama doesn't work on screen in the same way it might on stage. The setting is a grubby trailer park, where a bitter young couple (Jesse is pregnant; Hank is resentful) bicker and fight in generic Southern accents for 84 minutes, until Jesse goes into labor. A third character (Hank's teenage mistress) is brought in to stretch the film's running time to feature length and to add yet more meaningful, angry dialogue, little of which has any credibility because it was written for the theater, and simply transferring the play to an actual trailer park doesn't make it sound any less contrived. Even worse, the film demands a lot of sympathy for a spiteful, infantile, philandering jerk of a husband, and for a wife who in the end promises to honor and obey him, no matter how abusive he may get, so long as he touches her in that special way that brings her closer to God.