Carnelle Scott (Holly Hunter) works at a Mississippi fish plant. Her cousin Elain Rutledge (Mary Steenburgen) is a celebrated former beauty queen who is scheduled to make a speech at the local Miss Firecracker beauty pageant. Despite being too old and too short, Carnelle enters the contest. She gets fired from her job. She gets her friend Popeye Jackson (Alfre Woodard) to make the costume. Elain plans to leave her family in Atlanta. Delmount Williams (Tim Robbins) is tired of his life and returns to confront his sister Elain for leaving him in an insane asylum. Delmount intends to sell the family home where Carnelle lives. Carnelle is desperate to wear Elain's red dress and win first prize.
I don't know anything about the play. It seems to me that it would be more compelling if Carnelle is younger and more homely. Despite the appealing cast, I find the performances flaky without being funny. The plot meanders around the quirky characters. Thomas Schlamme's directions are mostly indie. It's not until Delmount starts beating up Ronnie Wayne in the second half that it finds its comedic legs. It needs to be sharper as a comedy satire of small town pageants.
I don't know anything about the play. It seems to me that it would be more compelling if Carnelle is younger and more homely. Despite the appealing cast, I find the performances flaky without being funny. The plot meanders around the quirky characters. Thomas Schlamme's directions are mostly indie. It's not until Delmount starts beating up Ronnie Wayne in the second half that it finds its comedic legs. It needs to be sharper as a comedy satire of small town pageants.