MY MOVIE SHELF: Steel Magnolias

The Task: Watch and write about every movie on my shelf, in order (Blu-rays are sorted after DVDs), by June 10, 2015.  Remaining movies: 168  Days to go: 119

Movie #270:  Steel Magnolias

“Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion.”

When Steel Magnolias came out, that’s how I would describe it to people. How, one second I’m crying my eyes out and the next I’m dying of laughter, and how amazingly great that was. It was really the first time a movie had elicited that kind of bold physical reaction from me, and I’d be hard pressed to think of even a handful that have come out since that could do it even half as well. Steel Magnolias is a rare gem.

The story of six women living in Louisiana, Steel Magnolias feels like home to me. My mother’s family is from the deep south, and growing up we spent several weeks there every summer and sometimes in the winter as well. These people are my people. The characters of Steel Magnolias are people I recognize, with familiar habits and personalities and lifestyles. The gathering together of food to care for people who are suffering a hardship is commonplace. The catty but not malicious gossiping about everyone in town is just as common. The blending of church and community, of town functions and socializing at the beauty parlor are all rituals I’ve both witnessed and taken part in. That kind of authenticity and familiarity really helps bring the movie to life.

It’s often labeled a chick flick, as if that’s something to scoff at, but Steel Magnolias lifts up female relationships in a beautiful way. When Shelby (Julia Roberts) faces several health scares throughout the film, Truvy (Dolly Parton), Ouiser (Shirley MacLaine), Clairee (Olympia Dukakis) and Annelle (Daryl Hannah) are there for Shelby and her mother M’Lynne (Sally Field). Whether it’s to tell a joke or give a hug or just to grasp a hand in solidarity, these women support each other through all the ups and downs that come in life. Through laughter and tears and everything in between, these women stick together and build each other up.

I have to say, I never really related to Shelby the way I suppose I probably should have when I was younger. There’s an arrogance of youth that perpetuates the idea that nothing bad will ever befall them, and no one will ever die. I had that same arrogance, I swear, but Shelby always struck me as selfish and stubborn. She was also inordinately difficult toward M’Lynne, but perhaps that’s just part of the nature of mothers and daughters. I have been inordinately difficult with my own mother from time to time, and she remains the one person in the world who can drive me crazy at the drop of a hat. Still, Shelby and new husband Jackson (Dylan McDermott) both seemed so in-the-moment, unaware of risks and consequences and mortality. That’s always been sad to me, and one of many reason why I’ve always felt compassion toward M’Lynne.

I’ve always felt for Truvy, too, whose husband Spud (Sam Shepard) was always distant and rarely showed his love for her, even though it was always there. And I’ve loved Clairee’s color and humor and her desire to make everything more enjoyable. I’ve even commiserated for Annelle, who enters the film sort of lost and spends the vast majority of it trying to find her place. But most of all, I love Ouiser, because she and I share the same misanthropic tendencies, though I do openly love a lot more things than she does.

Steel Magnolias is full of important life lessons for any woman to internalize. Never have a groom’s cake at your wedding if it looks like a bleeding animal. Never allow your husband to shoot birds out of your trees. Listen to doctors when they tell you things. When someone screams they want to hit something, offer them up a hated individual. Tell people you love them more than your luggage, even if nobody knows what it’s supposed to mean. And most importantly, get someone to do calisthenics for you if you’re ever in a coma. (I would add that this person also be in charge of your leg shaving. It’s very important to have a girlfriend for this purpose. If I am ever in a coma, dear God, someone shave my legs for me.)

Also, always always always have a group of girlfriends you can count on. In many ways, they will be some of the most important relationships in your life.

MY MOVIE SHELF: Runaway Jury

The Task: Watch and write about every movie on my shelf, in order (Blu-rays are sorted after DVDs), by June 10, 2015.  Remaining movies: 209  Days to go: 146

Movie #229:  Runaway Jury

I’m not a lawyer, but I do watch a lot of Law & Order. That said, I’m probably not qualified to evaluate the legal merits of the gun trial central to Runaway Jury. It seems a little shaky to me, but, again, that’s my completely unprofessional opinion. John Grisham, on the other hand, actually used to be a lawyer, so maybe he knows more than I do. One thing he certainly knows is how to build a tense, gripping legal thriller, be it about a murderous law firm that overcharges its clients, the assassination of a couple of Supreme Court Justices, a snotty kid on the run from the mob, a revenge killing in racially charged Mississippi, a predatory insurance company whose executives think its clients are “stupid stupid stupid,” or the hijacking of a jury trial for profit. The man writes slick, entertaining bestsellers that — for a stretch of the ’90s, in particular — become hugely popular blockbuster films. It’s hardly a character flaw; he has a lot of talent, and I like every single one of those movies of his.

When I was growing up, my mom used to travel occasionally to professional conventions or whatever. My senior year of high school, my mom invited me and my best friend to travel with her on one of these trips, in March when she went to DC. She would be in meetings all day, though, so my friend and I pretty much had the city to ourselves. It was an amazing time, but those are details for another time. Our last day there, however, as we were doing some sightseeing around the Lincoln Memorial and the Mall, we came across a line of police tape blocking our path. Tom Cruise was right there, on the other side of that tape, filming a scene for The Firm. I’m not sure why I don’t own that one, except for the fact that a Gene Hackman who is openly lustful and creepy is not the Gene Hackman for me. On the other hand, manipulatively plotting, villainous Gene Hackman is right up my alley. So I own Runaway Jury.

Hackman plays Rankin Fitch, a jury fixer working for a gun manufacturer being sued by the widow of a man killed in a shooting that used this manufacturer’s criminal-friendly weapon. (Like I said, I make no comment on the legal merits of such a case.) He’s working behind the scenes, feeding advice to defense (or respondent? whatever) counsel Bruce Davison, investigating and intimidating jurors, and promising a win for the gun company. On the other side of the aisle is attorney Wendell Rohr (Dustin Hoffman), intentionally spilling mustard on his tie so he doesn’t appear too put together in court. He’s got his own jury consultant in Lawrence Green (Jeremy Piven), who is remarkably not annoying, though he also isn’t up to any of the illegal shenanigans Fitch has going on. And at the heart of it all is Piven’s Serendipity costar John Cusack as Nicholas Easter (and others), juror number nine. He and girlfriend “Marlee” (Rachel Weisz) are fixing this jury for a payoff, but it’s possible cash isn’t their only motivator.

The film is well-structured and well-paced to give Nick and Marlee the maximum amount of mystery and intrigue as to their motives, without getting bogged down in their machinations. Information is alternately leaked and withheld for the purpose of pulling the viewer along and investing them in the scheme, without revealing whether Nick and Marlee are characters to root for or not. It’s a tricky balance, but they achieve it. Plus, Marlee is one seriously tough chick. I find the ending a bit convenient — a bit shoehorned in for the purpose of a feel-good resolution — but other than that the movie works for me. I like it, and that’s really all there is to it.

Plus, I always welcome the chance to see Dylan McDermott singing “Big Rock Candy Mountain.” It’ll probably be in my head the rest of the night.