Review of Steel Magnolias (1989) by Jason O — 13 Sep 2009

"Steel Magnolias" is about a group of southern women (Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley McLaine, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis, and Julia Roberts) who develop strong friendships in a hair salon and in each others' lives. It might sound bland by that one-sentence summary I just attached to it, but believe me, it's far from being bland in any sense.

Without a doubt, "Steel Magnolias" is one of the best movies of the late 80's, if not one of the best movies of all time. The film follows the great actresses I mentioned in the last paragraph around the entire movie, while showing how they live their lives, their many ups and downs, and how they stand by each others' sides in both good times and bad.

Each of the women have their own personality. M'Lynn (Sally Field) is easy to get along with, Truvy (Dolly Parton) is almost always smiling and showing off her southern accent, Ouiser (Shirley MacLaine) seems to always be in a bad mood no matter what the situation, and I'll let you find out the other personalities for yourself.

"Steel Magnolias" is a VERY versatile movie, and aside from the extraordinary acting (especially by Sally Field and Shirley MacLaine), that's mainly what makes it such a great movie. Parts of the movie are downright hilarious, parts such as a bunch of birds being stuck in a certain tree are unforgettable, and parts will probably be tear-jerkers to many people. Best of all, all of these different elements and genres all successfully mix into one package and work tremendously together to create a classic movie called "Steel Magnolias.".

To be honest, at first, I wasn't really expecting to like "Steel Magnolias" a whole lot after reading what it was about. But, as soon as I saw the stellar cast that was included, I knew it couldn't be that bad of a movie, so I gave it a shot. And I'm glad I gave in and did watch it because I got to see a GREAT all-around movie.

If you can handle a hilarious comedy movie that can be realistic and have a few sad parts, I recommend not just watching, but purchasing "Steel Magnolias." It will probably be one of your favorites. Oh yeah, did I mention that it never gets old? NOTE: That was my Amazon reviwe from the year 2001.