What I expected was a humorous satire on beauty pageants. What I got was a bizarre family drama that had little to do with pageants. The first-half dialogue tells us about Carnelle's (Holly Hunter) plans to be in the contest. But the action mostly centers on peripheral family problems involving Carnelle's two cousins, Elain (Mary Steenburgen), a former winner, and Delmount (Tim Robbins), something of a roving cad. Both just happen to arrive back in Carnelle's small town to be characters in the script.
The second half gets us closer to pageant time. But again, Elain and Delmount dominate the plot so that, for example, as contestants parade on-stage, the camera is on Delmount delivering dialogue tangential to the film's supposed theme on beauty pageants. The one funny moment was a reference, by another character, to bullfrogs that had been dressed in miniature glamorous costumes.
The story's theme is somewhat clichéd: contestants enter pageants for acceptance and love. That may have been true in times past. But I think in today's competitive world, the real motivation is money or a shot at stardom.
Visuals are acceptable. Cinematography is competent though conventional. That the film was shot on location in Mississippi adds some realism to the setting. Casting and acting are okay, I guess. Background music trends nondescript and unmemorable.
This film could have been so much more. I don't know anything about the play upon which the film is based. But I might have enjoyed the movie more if the writers had scrapped the original material and wrote an original story that put the focus on the pageant rather than on a dysfunctional family.
The second half gets us closer to pageant time. But again, Elain and Delmount dominate the plot so that, for example, as contestants parade on-stage, the camera is on Delmount delivering dialogue tangential to the film's supposed theme on beauty pageants. The one funny moment was a reference, by another character, to bullfrogs that had been dressed in miniature glamorous costumes.
The story's theme is somewhat clichéd: contestants enter pageants for acceptance and love. That may have been true in times past. But I think in today's competitive world, the real motivation is money or a shot at stardom.
Visuals are acceptable. Cinematography is competent though conventional. That the film was shot on location in Mississippi adds some realism to the setting. Casting and acting are okay, I guess. Background music trends nondescript and unmemorable.
This film could have been so much more. I don't know anything about the play upon which the film is based. But I might have enjoyed the movie more if the writers had scrapped the original material and wrote an original story that put the focus on the pageant rather than on a dysfunctional family.