Sordid Lives (2000)

Director:

Del Shores

Writers (WGA):

Del Shores (play)
Del Shores (screenplay)

Release Date:

11 May 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

A black comedy about white trash.

Plot:

As three generations of a family in a small Texas town gather for a funeral, we learn the hilarious, sad, trashy truth of the "Sordid Lives."

Plot Keywords:

Homosexuality | Death In Family | Girlfriend | Death | Family

Awards:

5 wins

Cast

Olivia Newton-John	...	Bitsy Mae Harling
Kirk Geiger	...	Ty Williamson
Sarah Hunley	...	Juanita Bartlett
Newell Alexander	...	Wardell 'Bubba' Owens
Beau Bridges	...	G.W. Nethercott
Earl Houston Bullock	...	Odell Owens (as Earl H. Bullock)
Beth Grant	...	Sissy Hickey
Delta Burke	...	Noleta Nethercott
Leslie Jordan	...	Earl 'Brother Boy' Ingram
Mitch Carter	...	Bumper
Bonnie Bedelia	...	Latrelle Williamson
Sharron Alexis	...	Sara Kaufman
Ann Walker	...	LaVonda DuPree
Mary Margaret Lewis	...	Ethel (as Mary-Margaret Lewis)
Rosemary Alexander	...	Dr. Eve Bolinger

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content, nudity and language.

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:MA | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Daly-Harris Productions

Trivia:

This film contains many of the original actors from the long running stage-production, with the actors who originated Bonnie Bedelia and Beau Bridges roles (Mary Margaret Lewis and Mitch Carter) playing the receptionist Ethel and security guard in the mental institution.

Goofs:

Continuity: In our first view of the corpse, it is wearing red lipstick. In the very next view, the lips are pink. Then they are red again in subsequent scenes.

Quotes:

Sissy: [smoking and talking to her dead sister's corpse] Hey. Guess you don't mind if I smoke. It has not been a good day sister. And I blame YOU... You turn on a LIGHT when you go to the bathroom... If you are going to have affairs you have GOT to be more careful! Of course, this is all useless information for you now.

Movie Connections:

References "The Beverly Hillbillies" (1962)

Soundtrack:

Sordid Lives

Tryin' fer Tolerance in Texas

Sordid Lives is the screen adaptation of Del Shores' play, and it's a hoot (and a holler) from beginning to end. When I saw it last night, I had no idea what it would be about except that Olivia Newton-John was in it, along with Beau Bridges and Bonnie Bedelia, which was more than enough to get me in the theatre. I was not disappointed. The film starts out over the top and goes only farther in that direction with every scene. It's got a wacked-out cartoon tone to it, but yet the characters ARE real, you do relate to their foibles and situations. The most fully-realized character in the piece has to be Leslie Jordan's cross-dressing Brother Boy, who makes you laugh every time he appears - you are laughing WITH him, though, not AT him, and by the end you are happy for him as well. In the wrong hands, this movie could have been a travesty of major proportions, but Del Shores (who wrote and directed) is confident enough in the value of the piece to make it work.