Sordid Lives

I saw this with my 30-something son who asked, still smiling, as we came out of the theater, "How long do you think they took to make that?" "About a week," I answered and I'll bet they had the time of their lives."

Sordid Lives manages to be sweet, glib, compassionate, irreverent, moving and very funny on an obvious shoe string budget. A triumph over crash 'em up Hollywood and stale romance flicks.

See it in a theater if you can, the group amusement is a pleasure to share.

Sordid lives is a candid account of the south and what happens....Its camp but so is life the humor is over the top but then again white trash is too. If your southern and have a friend or friends who are gay you may have met some of these characters ( I do and have)... The only part I didn't find believable was the break out of the nut house although it was a hoot. I like this movie Delta Burke and Olivia Newton-John were both a stitch....The clothes, sets and make-up were right on I mean really I am southern I come from a small town this people are just wandering around here, u can't swing a dead cat without hitting one or two.... The stereo-types are exact but then again small minded people all tend to act the same way hence the term

My girlfriend and I saw trailers and the great website for Sordid Lives over a year ago and couldn't wait to see it. We kept checking back to see if it had finally made it's way out to us in LA every so often and had begun to figure we'd have to wait for the dvd release. Then driving today we saw it playing at a little house on LaBrea and hit up the next showing.

This film was well worth the wait. It's true that the camera work isn't flashy and it's easy to tell it was adapted from a play. But all the great characters and witty dialogue are so engaging you hardly notice. The whole cast does and excellent job and I honestly haven't laughed during a film this much since Waiting for Guffman. Although I think the film may be more targeted at gay audiences there seems to be something for everyone in this. Rarely have I seen a movie that managed to be this funny while being touching and real at the same time without seeming completely contrived and cheesy.

We found out about "Sordid Lives" earlier this year while visiting Palm Springs, where it had been playing for many weeks (maybe it still is...?)

We loved it! I'm not a film reviewer, and the only reason for this note is to wonder out loud why film has not been released on video. Could it be because it's still packing 'em in (in very select theaters and festivals) or because the distributor doesn't think the video will sell?

And it's not just a "gay" movie, even though there are a lot of gay issues presented. There are all kinds of issues--social, cultural, regional, economic, alcoholic, disability---you name it. The cast is superb. As for its "Politically Incorrectness?" Take this up with Bill Maher....

dw

Rather than being plot driven as in most films, "Sordid Lives" is character driven. Some ten to twelve main characters who live, or have lived, in a small town in West Texas chat, argue, hug, gossip, lament, reflect on, laugh at, debate, divulge, confer, confide in, and generally shoot the breeze, as they go about their drab existence, in preparation for a funeral. Adapted from a stage play, this film comedy is, not surprisingly, heavy on dialogue. The characters have their own unique quirks and personality idiosyncrasies, and are interesting for the most part.

Sissy (Beth Grant) is an older, fussy woman who stings herself with a rubber band on her arm, as a way to quit smoking. Latrelle (Bonnie Bedelia) and LaVonda (Ann Walker) are Sissy's two nieces who argue with each other about everything. Then you've got Noleta (Delta Burke), a tacky trailer park type married to G.W. (Beau Bridges), a man whose two wooden legs caused the death of Sissy's sister. Then there's Brother Boy (Leslie Jordan), Latrelle and LaVonda's brother, who is confined to an institution because he is a flaming transvestite who dresses like Tammy Wynette. Brother Boy is a hoot in that bizarre outfit, and with that deadpan expression and slow Texas nasal twang. To complicate matters, Latrelle's son Ty (Kirk Geiger), is a gay actor who is trying to recover from his boyhood in provincial West Texas.

I liked the first half of the film better than the second half, which trends in the direction of plot absurdity, as two characters enter a bar with guns, and one character threatens to set fire to himself.

With its absence of background music, its exaggerated acting (over the top at times), its indoor sets, and absence of scene transitions at times, "Sordid Lives" feels very much like a TV sitcom. The costumes are colorful and charmingly tacky. Cinematography is conventional. Olivia Newton-John sings a couple of gospel hymns. But I could have wished for more country/western music.

If the film has one overall weakness I would say that it is its flamboyance. Characters, dialogue, acting and plot tend to be overstated; there's almost no subtlety. It's like they were trying a little too hard.

Still, the down-home humor renders lots of laughs for viewers. And underneath all the hubbub, these characters have genuine heart and soul. "Sordid Lives", ultimately, is a film whose theme is love and acceptance.