Review of Steel Magnolias (2012) by Debbie F — 23 Jan 2011

Based on a play, Steel Magnolias is a movie about family and friendship. If you're into those sort of movies about the strong bond between women, you'll like this movie. If not, well still, it's a pretty funny movie.

With an all star cast to support, Steel Magnolias begins with the wedding of a woman named Shelby (played by a very young Julia Roberts) and the emotional and comedic bond with her friends, especially her mother. But Shelby has diabetes which puts her at risk of living a long and normal life. The drama is a bit melodramatic and dull, but the preformances of Julia and the rest of the cast is pretty worth while. But this movie is mostly a comedy than anything else, and a funny one at that, so this movie overall is entertaining, but also cliche.

The directing is very well done, Taking place in a small southern town, but the many different filmming locations and the style in which its filmed is great. There are some key moments in the movie where once the real drama kicks in, it kicks in hard, and that's all thanks to the directing choices and cinematography that plays well through the movie.

The movie overall is pretty good. It's well made and well preformed with it's all star cast. Though this movie could have served as a good character study, the plot is just too melodramatic and cliche. In all honesty, this movie is a Terms of Endearment rip-off. Watch that movie instead if you want to watch a movie like this one, but with a better story.