Laughed hysterically while crying my eyes out

I'd rather have a half hour of wondeful than a whole life of nothing special.
Shelby (Julia Roberts)

 Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion.

Truvy (Dolly Parton)

I think perhaps the last time I laughed hysterically while crying my eyes out at the very same time was the last time I watched this movie twenty years ago!


                                             In a good shoe, I wear a size six, but a seven
                                                       feels so good, I buy a size eight.
                                                               Truvy (Dolly Parton)


When someone asks me about my favorite movies, Steel Magnolias always comes right to mind but the truth is I've only seen it once & it had been so long since I'd seen it that I'd  forgotten most of it. I remembered the basic plot, a few characters & that I sobbed & sobbed - which is unusual for me.  Anyhow, I was curious to see again just why I liked it so much! - sooo - a while back I placed it in my Netflix que where it finally worked its way to the top. Last night I talked my girls into watching it with me. My husband stuck it out for a bit but couldn't take it... much too much of a chic flik for him.  Nostalgic in a 1980's/retro sorta way -- think pink(!), big hair & small southern town friends, family, food, fun & faith combined w/ a wide range of personalities & stuff of life -- from celebrations to sacrifice.

                          I'm not crazy, I've just been in a very bad mood for 40 years!

                                       Ouiser - aka Weezy (Shirly MacLaine)


Truvy's beauty shop reminds of the little shop, Pink Puff, where my mom & I used to have our hair cut when I was a young girl... lotsa little ol' ladies gossiping while the stylists w/ boufon (I have no idea how to even spell that!) hairdos, blue eyeshadow, black eyeliner, fake eyelashes & polyester pants worked magic on their clients (not me!) w/ a teasing comb & hairspray ;)

                                   There's no such thing as natural beauty.
                                               Truvy (Dolly Parton)

Based on Robert Harling's play, this comedy-drama directed by Herbert Ross (The Turning Point) follows several years in the lives of women who regularly see one another at a beauty shop in their small Louisiana town. The story deepens as Julia Roberts, playing a serious diabetic and the daughter of Sally Field, goes downhill in her health. But as an ensemble piece, this is one of those enjoyably lumpy tearjerkers with many years' worth of stored truths suddenly being shared between the characters, lots of grievances aired, that sort of thing. Daryl Hannah and Shirley MacLaine assume the most eccentric roles, Dolly Parton the most fun, and Olympia Dukakis the most dignified, while Sally Field essentially provides the moral and emotional center of the movie. --Tom Keogh - Amazon.com

                        That sanctuary looks like it was hosed down with Pepto Bismol.
                                     M'Lynn / Shelby's momma (Sally Fields)

                           Remember what Daddy always says. "An ounce of pretension
                                                   is worth a pound of manure!"
                                                        Shelby (Julia Reynolds)