I really, really wanted to like this film, and before you read the rest of this I will say I can't explain why I don't like it without spoilers, so you've been warned.
This film is being sold as a feel good, female bonding, mother-daughter, chick flick. While it's all those things, it's also about a mother, Vivi (Ellen Burstyn in the present, Ashley Judd in the past) who drank too much and beat her kids. Yes, she lost her true love in the war. Yes, she had a nervous breakdown. And yes, she really, really feels bad about beating her kids. But when daughter Sidda Lee (Sandra Bullock) goes public about her abusive childhood, Vivi doesn't apologize, she pitches a fit and has another Bloody Mary.
Don't get me wrong. There were some good times in Sidda Lee's childhood, and her father reminds her that she should remember those instead. Because it is the adult child's responsibility to understand and forgive the abusive parent. Yes, that strange sound you hear is my blood boiling.
So with the help of the (mostly) drunk Ya-Ya Sisters, kidnapped Sidda Lee comes to understand that her mother was heart broken and sometimes the kids all got sick at the same time and that's why she drank and beat the crap out of them. So Sidda forgives Vivi, even though Vivi still never apologized. Then the band plays and everyone is happy.
Were there times when I laughed? You bet. There are some great lines. But the movie is slow, jumps around in time far more than necessary, and handles serious issues like alcoholism and child abuse far too lightly. I have no idea why this film was championed by Bette Midler, Bonnie Bruckheimer, Callie Khouri and Sandra Bullock. Surely they could have found a better women's story to film.
This film is being sold as a feel good, female bonding, mother-daughter, chick flick. While it's all those things, it's also about a mother, Vivi (Ellen Burstyn in the present, Ashley Judd in the past) who drank too much and beat her kids. Yes, she lost her true love in the war. Yes, she had a nervous breakdown. And yes, she really, really feels bad about beating her kids. But when daughter Sidda Lee (Sandra Bullock) goes public about her abusive childhood, Vivi doesn't apologize, she pitches a fit and has another Bloody Mary.
Don't get me wrong. There were some good times in Sidda Lee's childhood, and her father reminds her that she should remember those instead. Because it is the adult child's responsibility to understand and forgive the abusive parent. Yes, that strange sound you hear is my blood boiling.
So with the help of the (mostly) drunk Ya-Ya Sisters, kidnapped Sidda Lee comes to understand that her mother was heart broken and sometimes the kids all got sick at the same time and that's why she drank and beat the crap out of them. So Sidda forgives Vivi, even though Vivi still never apologized. Then the band plays and everyone is happy.
Were there times when I laughed? You bet. There are some great lines. But the movie is slow, jumps around in time far more than necessary, and handles serious issues like alcoholism and child abuse far too lightly. I have no idea why this film was championed by Bette Midler, Bonnie Bruckheimer, Callie Khouri and Sandra Bullock. Surely they could have found a better women's story to film.