Georgia (1995) User Reviews

Sibling rivalry and family affairs.

[Hermit C-2 · 7/10 · 22 August 1999]

I suppose 'Georgia' makes a more mellifluous title than 'Sadie,' because that's the Flood sister that gets the lion's share of attention in this movie. Sister Georgia has built herself a career as a successful country music singer and has a stable marriage and family life. Sadie sings too, sort of; she's not that good and performs with semi-pro bands in mostly empty nightclubs. The two women have a complex and fragile relationship. Sadie seems to love her sister and admire her talent, but just below the surface lurk envy and resentment. Georgia for her part is always polite but somewhat on edge when Sadie is around, as if she's afraid her sister might lose control of herself and do something stupid or embarrassing. That fear is not unfounded, for Sadie is, as one critic described her, an emotional black hole, the kind of person who sucks in all the concern and attention in a family. She's also a substance abuser who is always walking on the edge of personal destruction.

The movie was written by Barbara Turner, mother of Jennifer Jason Leigh who plays Sadie, and directed by Ulu Grosbard. They tend to underplay rather than overplay Sadie's drug use and erratic behavior. She often threatens to do something out-of-control or embarrassing but most often stops just a bit short. Only once in the film is she shown really suffering the ill effects of being a junkie, but it's a harrowing scene. Also, Sadie and Georgia are often right on the verge of an emotional bust-up scene, but they only really have it out one time as well. This keeps the film from degenerating into caricature but it may stop it from being a great film rather than just a good one.

Director Grosbard took one very large chance on a scene where Sadie is Georgia's guest onstage at a benefit show. Sadie sings a Van Morrison song, "Take Me Back," stretching it out with her own improvised lyrics before an uncomfortably silent audience, forcing Georgia to come to both Sadie's and the crowd's rescue. To make this scene work, Grosbard had to let the song run on a long time, some eight minutes. This runs the risk of alienating some viewers and providing an easy target for critics, but you have to admire the daring it took to include it.

'Georgia' is a good, solid, if not spectacular film about sibling rivalry and family relations. Leigh is good in her role, as is Mare Winningham as the more subdued title character. Of the supporting cast I especially liked Max Perlich as a hero-worshiping fan that Sadie uses by turning him into her husband.

Sibling rivalry taken to new depths

[MeYesMe · 6/10 · 9 August 1998]

Jennifer Jason Leigh is an incredible actress, climbing into a character and making you feel what the character feels. She accomplishes that to an intense degree as Sadie Flood in "Georgia." The problem is that I didn't really want to feel what Sadie felt. She scared and disgusted me. Mare Winningham (who knew she had such a clear, sweet singing voice?!?) matches Leigh's believable portrayal, but had a more sympathetic character with which to work. The stand-out, though, is Max Perlich as Sadie's worshipful husband/doormat. My heart broke for him. While the acting was strong, I found this film exhausting and kept checking to see how much time was left - it felt more like an assignment than entertainment.

JJL Showcase

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 4 May 2017]

Sadie is desperately looking up to her older sister Georgia who is a famous C&W artist. Sadie wants to be a famous artist like her sister, but is always doing everything wrong. Her desperate need to be accepted by her sister is constantly complicated by her drug and alcohol problems.

Beyond anything else you can say about this film, it is a showcase for Jennifer Jason Leigh. She not only stars -- and sings -- but produced the film, and along with her mother (Barbara Turner) wrote the script, based on a real-life experience.

The casting of Ted Levine is interesting. Apparently he was cast to help distance him from the "Buffalo Bill" image he had acquired. But they made little attempt to modify his look. He still looks very much like Buffao Bill, though he is quite capable of altering his appearance by merely growing a mustache (see "Monk").

Perhaps Too Character Driven For Its Own Good

[Theo Robertson · 6/10 · 14 August 2005]

This is an independent drama featuring two sisters: Georgia a successful C&W singer and her younger sister Sadie who is a grunge rock chick and that's the story . When I say " story " I don't mean " plot " because unfortunately GEORGIA doesn't have a plot which is a shame since this movie falls short because of its low concept story . It's very well acted by all the cast and Marie Winningham was Oscar nominated as the title character while Jennifer Jason Leigh ( One of America's most underrated actresses of the last two decades ) is superb . Yeah you want to grab hold of Sadie and strangle some sense into her but having an abundance of reckless stupidity is how the character is written and Leigh plays her to perfection . it's just a shame that the film suffers from a lack of incidents in a tale featuring sibling rivalry with the most nail biting moment being when Sadie being refused on a plane because she has no shoes ! Will she get some footwear before the plane leaves ? That's the nearest we get to excitement

A True Tear-Jerker!

[Sylviastel · 7/10 · 31 January 2008]

While I love Mare Winningham and Jennifer Jason Leigh, I felt terrible for the lead character of Sadie Flood who longs for the same success as her older married, conventional sister Georgia. The film earned nominations for Winningham who plays the role with understanding and grace like most of her performances. I just find it so sad for Sadie who is genuinely a tragic figure of a character who loves and is at loss about her relationship with Axel, a quiet pizza guy, who falls in love with her. I remember them hitch-hiking rather than ride in a car with Georgia and her husband. It is a sad, thoughtful movie about sibling rivalry and relationships.

Georgia on my mind

[paul2001sw-1 · 9/10 · 14 August 2005]

'Georgia' is a strong, sometimes harrowing drama about the relationship between two singing siblings: the eponymous elder sister, an established country-folk star, and the less talented Sadie, who is actually the central character of this film. Jennifer Jason Leigh is in her element as the self-destructive, self-loathing Sadie, and delivers perhaps her finest performance; but Mare Willingham is also good in the subtler role of Georgia, a woman whose capacity to feel compassion has been tested to the limit, and which only survives when focused through a prism of superiority. Georgia is instinctively careful with words but Sadie compulsively goads her into betraying these instincts; the telling dialogues between them are constructed with a deadly precision, the high points of a generally excellent screenplay. What's also surprising is that the music is also good. In any film about art, a central problem for the director is creating a belief in the merits of the fictional work; in 'La Bellie Noiseuse', for example, Jean-Jacques Rivette created an explicit plot justification for not having to show the painting that is the film's centrepiece to his viewers, rather than letting us judge it. By contrast, in this film, Georgia sounds genuinely good, while Sadie veers between downright awful and almost interesting; this allows the film to actually use the music as a means of conveying the narrative of the story. This slows the pace of the film, and if you don't like the types of music played, might be excruciating; but it's interesting to see the (fictional) truth conveyed through the medium of performance.

One of the film's strengths is that it grants us no indulgent fantasies; because of this, the narrative arc is limited (especially as the film is quite long). In some senses, the film resembles other great films about the self-destructive, like 'Five Easy Pieces' or 'Naked'. It's not quite in that class, but it's double-headed structure makes it more reflective, less visceral, but by no means uninteresting. Overall, it's an unjustly neglected work.

a good weekend watch.

[wayneamurphy · 7/10 · 23 December 2003]

I saw this the other weekend after a few years, and did enjoy seeing it again. A not-so-complex story of a character that would rather live the rock & roll life then try to match the type of life her sister has.

But JJL (who I will admit I think is amazing but I did not give an overly amount of patronage to with an 8) does a good job at showing how a person like this acts.

sibling rivalry, desperation and rock&roll

[Imaginary-friend · 10/10 · 12 December 2004]

Georgia is a stark and harrowing exposition into the relationship of two sisters, Sadie played by Jennifer Jason Leigh and the eponymous Georgia played by Mare Winningham (best supporting actress nominee 1996). The film follows Sadie, a young woman trapped within her envy and aspirations to achieve the success, and more importantly recognition, of her older sister Georgia, a revered folk and country singer in the pacific north west of America. In her pursuit of these desires however, she tears at her tenuous relationship with her sister and all those around her. It seems only her contagious beauty and vulnerability keep the people she hurts close to her, as we follow her through smoky clubs and bars, cheap motels and onwards into oblivion.

Georgia is often a trying film on the viewer, as its director, the Belgium born Ulu Grosbard pushes mainstream codes of cinematic language, and at the same time, deals with a central character who is often caustic, abrasive and unredeeming. That said, Jennifer Jason Leigh's visceral portrayal of Sadie Flood is utterly compelling and inspired. Indeed, her performance truly brings alive a disaffected character wrought by insecurity, isolation, depression and self-loathing; all culminating in an itinerant and bohemian lifestyle of club singing, alcoholism, heroin addiction and disillusionment.

Worthy of note also are the stellar performances of the support cast, notably Georgia's loving husband played by Ted Levine, Sadie's doting and tortured partner played by Max Perlich and Herman the drug-addled band-mate of Sadie's, performed by the ubiquitous character actor John C Reilly. Another great feature of this film is the soundtrack, and in many ways this film could be considered a musical. Contributions come from Van Morrison, Lou Reed, Elvis Costello, Eric Clapton, Tom Waits and Otis Redding, many of whom were active in the music to the film. John Doe and the late Jimmy Witherspoon for example, both acclaimed recording artists in their own right, act and sing in the film. Indicative of the soundtrack's integral contribution to the overall film, please note the cover of 'this magical place is more than it seems' from the Wizard of Oz score, as Sadie more so than anything wants to click her heels together and get back to the old house, back home.

In summation, this film will appeal to people who drink too much, people who tell me that it's a sin to know and feel too much within, which according to Bob Dylan many claim to live by and i concur; those with a penchant for '90s Seattle, rock and roll and dark character studies into alcoholism, thwarted ambition and pervasive despair.

Drug addiction in the music biz? No way!!!

[edgein15 · 6/10 · 8 August 2000]

Eh, I was hoping that Jennifer Jason Leigh could go more than one film in a row without a gratuitous nude scene. No such luck. The film is talky, predictable, and dull and offers little insight into the character of either sister. The only interesting characters, played by Ted Levine and Max Perlich are given minimal screen time when they should have been major players.

Quite confusing as a whole.

[adamdemuth · 3/10 · 28 November 2004]

I'm not going to say that this movie is horrible, because I have seen worse, but it's not even halfway decent.

The plot is very confusing. I couldn't really figure out what was happening and where things were going. When the movie was over, I was left scratching my head. I watched through to the end of the credits to see if they had something after them that may clear things up, but once the credits were over, that was it. I felt like I was jarred from one weak plot point to another throughout the whole movie, with little or no transition between the two.

Character development is very shallow. I couldn't figure out when somebody was angry or had a grudge against someone. I couldn't tell if half of the characters were just supposed to be drunk, stoned, mentally challenged or they just had a bad actor to portray them. This film seems to be based around stereotypes (to it's credit, they are hard to avoid using when you are making a film about a singer in a rock band), which SHOULD make character development easier, since so many other films have already illustrated the suffering of an abused child, or the trials of a heroin addict trying to come clean. Stereotypes are easy to depict, which would explain why so many bad films tend to overuse stereotypical characters. This film, on the other hand, uses stereotypical characters left and right, but then tries to keep them as incomprehensible as possible.

Another problem with the characters is that they seemed to be dismissed with no explanation. I guess that's OK because so little time was spent developing the characters that I really didn't get a chance to know any of them, so I never really missed any of them.

And last but not least was Sadie's singing. It's awful. The music backing her up is not prize winner, but it is usually drowned out by the screeches that are released from Sadie's vocal cords. I swear that there's one point in the movie where she sings a song for at least 10 minutes. I seriously thought I was going to have to turn it off during this howl-a-thon.

As a whole, this movie is confusing. Characters are ill-developed, Georgia's acting is wooden and stiff, Sadie's character is yanked from one bad situation to another, with no back story or explanation. The music was unbearable, and I can think of no good reasons to see this film unless you have a thirst for cinematic pain.

Deserved more acclaim for acting and the soundtrack

[deanjcooper · 10/10 · 24 July 2021]

Jennifer Jason Leigh is so mesmerizing even in moments where she fails and crashes, it's still so entertaining and vulnerable. You just can't not love Sadie.

The acting and singing are Oscar worthy, especially when the sisters are dueting on a Mare Winningham song " if I wanted" it's so well performed that you don't care Sadie can't sing.... It's her persona that's captivating.

Powerful top 5 of favorite films!

less music please

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 3 January 2019]

Sadie Flood (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is an aspiring singer. Her older sister Georgia Flood (Mare Winningham) is a successful country singer and the head of her family. Troubled addict Sadie's love for Georgia is tinged with a sense of inadequacy and jealousy. She's desperate to be Georgia but doesn't know how. She has more ambition than Georgia but with much less musical talent. She marries boyfriend Axel.

I love both JJL and Mare. I love Sadie and Georgia's complicated sibling relationship. Their first kitchen scene is amazing and I want more of that. This would be a super great character based film if Sadie stays at Georgia's home for the week ending with a reunion with their dad. The movie elevates everytime the sisters have a scene together. On the other hand, the music is problematic. I'm not a country fan and Georgia's music bores me. That's almost as bad as Sadie who is suppose to be a weak singer. I don't know why there is so much of her music if it's supposed to be inferior. At best, they are a bowling alley band. The music is begging to be cut out so that more character scenes can be added. The movie wastes half a hour with the band playing bad gigs. It could have represented all of that in much shorter time. It should be the movie's fifteen minute introductory first act. This is best as a family drama and less about the band. The sisters' simmering passive aggressive conflicts are the source of everything in this movie. Mare got an Oscar nomination although Jennifer did not.

An art-house bummer: broadly drawn, unbelievable, and nearly unbearable...

[moonspinner55 · 3/10 · 11 January 2009]

Jennifer Jason Leigh and Mare Winningham are a good match portraying vastly different siblings, but only Winningham is able to bring something convincing or substantial to her role. Leigh, playing bar-band singer and alcoholic Sadie Flood, constantly leans on older sis Georgia, an acclaimed folk singer in the Joni Mitchell mold. Perhaps due to her double duties as co-producer on the film, Leigh seems to have boxed herself into a corner: she isn't credible as a singer and, even if this is intentional, gives herself far too much screen-time at the microphone. Probably hoping for a tour-de-force, Leigh is wire-drawn and nervous and jagged; however, we simply do not see any talent within this character (Leigh is obviously a solid actress, but she makes decisions here that wall us off from her). If Sadie had even the slightest bit of charisma or appeal, we might be able to buy into the concept that she gets the (small) breaks that she does. As it is, the likelihood of her ever getting up on stage is slim. Director Ulu Grosbard crafts a few intense dramatic sequences, and the editing at the finale juxtaposes Sadie's bar performance with Georgia's sold-out arena show--both singing the same song--and it's a sadly nuanced moment...but really, what's the point? *1/2 from ****

Looking for a plot, you're missing the point!

[Rootedlogic · 12 November 2003]

This film presents a fairly accurate portrayal of the chaotic, symbiotic environment of the bar band music scene. If you are looking for a coherent, one-two-three plot and are expecting realism at the same time, forget it. You would be missing the point. Having "been there" and "done that", I can affirm that this movie does a pretty good job at portraying interesting and realistic snapshot views of people in this particular music genre. In addition, this film even goes so far as to attempt realistic discriminations between different types of musicians (e.g., between ones who want to just succeed, ones who just want to play, ones who can't get their lives together enough to make it, starving artists, etc.).

This film initially may seem innocuous and even simplistic to some casual viewers. I must admit that I didn't get much the first time I casually viewed it. "Georgia" is very layered and textural -- the more you stand back and look, the more you can almost reach out and touch it -- but, as with most true art -- one must stand back and really take a look at it to appreciate the many layers. The layers of this particular artwork is done via multiple, sometimes concurrent, relationships, which intermittently share the foreground and the background with some really great music and various elements of the music scene. There is the relationship between Georgia and Sadie -- of course, the most obvious relationship that maintains precedence, but if you spend too much time on this one, you will miss so much. There is the Sadie-Axel layer; the Sadie-Georgia's husband layer; the Sadie-Herman layer; the Sadie-and the music layer; the Sadie-Sadie layer; the Sadie-drugs layer; the Sadie-father layer; on and on. All these relationships involving Jennifer J.L's character puts a lot of pressure on J.J.L, and I think she brings it about beautifully. I don't find her "overacting" in any scene -- the only "overacting" that is done is done by Sadie, not by J.J.L.

J.J.L. has rarely disappointed me in her character portrayals. I have always found her an interesting sort of actress: she does not have that obvious physical "stand out" star quality about her, but more of a quiet, well-played character actress, genuine star quality about her. I think she, along with the other actors in this movie, did a terrific job with very difficult material (about a very unusual and difficult, but interesting, lifestyle), and this movie calls out to me to watch it every time it plays on my satellite service.

This movie should not be judged along with "standards". It is a rare piece of filmwork, and should be judged entirely on its own standalone merits.

Sad and honest

[rnd · 7/10 · 6 January 2001]

Everyone knows someone like Sadie, the character played by Jennifer Jason Leigh in "Georgia". She is completely unable to fulfill herself; and blames her own self-loathing on the people who love her most. Leigh's acting out of Sadie's behavior is so convincing it's painful to watch.

Sadie is a singer talented enough to get jobs with bands in nightclubs, while her sister, Georgia (played by Mare Winningham), seems to have a perfect career as a gifted folk singer. Sadie sees her life in shadow of her sister's, and with that dooming premise overlooks anything of value or potential in her own. Her mistakes become increasingly wrenching as she progresses in various substance addictions, blows jobs and puts herself in harm's way. Sadie's awareness at her own lack of control is both irritating and pitiful -- we see the people that love her try to help, including her sweet husband played with a deft touch by Max Perlich, but how can you help someone who can't help herself? The film is masterful in showing the conflicts that Georgia has, too, while she tries to resolve how she should deal with Sadie's shortcomings and her own anger and resentment.

The film drags in places and sometimes Leigh overdoes Sadie's unlikeability a bit, so it is hard to understand why she is given the chances that she has professionally, and personally. But, where Leigh is brash the other actors take up the slack with subtle, well turned out performances. The music communicates a lot of context, too. All in all, an interesting film.

Cool offbeat dark country film

[zigistardusted · 7/10 · 3 May 2005]

Its probably not like the greatest film ever made but for those who 'get' the country vibe, not the cornball stuff but the real rootsy kind of textures and colors of a good Hank Williams record, this film is a keeper. There are some amazingly cool covers of some Velvet Underground stuff by the main character's band that I was rather shocked to hear, as I am a huge fan. They really had the whole Cowboy Junkies vibe down pat....Leigh is an amazing actress who has portrayed many dark and troubled characters throughout her career (almost exclusively). Here the tradition continues....Good soundtrack does not a great film make, but to me the characters were compelling enough to hold my interest (and I'm a tough customer). It kind of reminds me a bit of the LA-indie extravaganza Sugartown, an ensemble piece about many intertwining music & entertainment biz loonies, which is a bit more comic but certainly as dark.

sisters of mercy

[lee_eisenberg · 10/10 · 12 January 2019]

Ulu Grosbard's "Georgia" looks at the tense relationship between two sisters, the established, upstanding country singer Georgia (Mare Winningham in an Academy Award-nominated performance), and the aspiring but damaged Sadie (Jennifer Jason Leigh). The latter's efforts to make it big stretch the former's tolerance to the limits, especially since Sadie defines herself in relation to Georgia. Both actresses put their all into the roles, especially Leigh. The whole sequence where she tries to board the airplane is one of the most impressive that I've ever seen in a movie. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Also starring Ted Levine (Buffalo Bill in "Silence of the Lambs") and John C. Reilly in an early role.

Sisters, Sisters, There Were Never Such Devoted Sisters.....

[evanston_dad · 6/10 · 12 May 2009]

A grungy, indie-vibe movie about a wild child (Jennifer Jason Leigh) who has to fall back on her reliable sister (Mare Winningham) after she screws up her own life. Leigh's character loves her older sister precisely because she's always there for her, even as she dislikes how safe and boring her sister's life is. The film does a good job of tapping into the dynamic that exists between two people who both love and hate the very things that make them most different.

Mare Winnigham received a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination for her performance, and she's good, but it's Jennifer Jason Leigh once again who proves that she was one of the most overlooked actresses of her generation.

Grade: B

You Can't Sing

[ginnymason · 9/10 · 5 August 2019]

Sibling rivalry will always be an endlessly fascinating topic and never as fascinating as it is in Georgia. Two sisters both make a living as a singers, but the difference is that one (Georgia) can sing and has made a name for herself for it and the other can't (Sadie) and mostly tours dive bars in between drug addictions and boyfriends.

What Sadie lacks in pitch and intonation, she makes up for in sheer passion and commitment (as opposed to Georgia's beautiful, but cold performances), but that can only get you so far, especially when your famous sister isn't willing to help you and you're constantly riding along on her coattails.

Jennifer Jason Leigh and Mare Winningham give career best performances here, gamely showcasing the resentment that can grow between two family members when they don't take your advice or try harder to help you. They're not afraid to wallow in bitter, cringe-y territory.

Falls a little short ... but it has Jennifer Jason Leigh

[pfranklin · 7/10 · 16 March 2003]

This movie seems to have been ruined by a plot or that never really got off the ground. The scripting was very weak and cliche at times. But the saving grace for this movie was Jennifer Jason Leigh. Jennifer Jason Leigh was this movie. Without her it would never have never left the can. There was some very good music in this movie that is very much part of the mid-90's Seattle grundge scene. The plot of this movie is really not worth commenting on. Well I think the cinema photography was quite good also. If you love Jennifer Jason Leigh and don't mind seeing her playing a down and out role then you will enjoy this movie. Don't expect much of anything else though.

I read a few comments here by those that either really like Jennifer and those that don't. But I think she is a unique and original and highly crafted actress in a field of look alikes and clones. And like I said that is the only reason to watch this movie.

Started off with a certain amount of promise

[smatysia · 5/10 · 30 May 2016]

This film started off with a certain amount of promise. Interesting cast, good production values, et cetera. Mare Winningham was good, as her Oscar nomination testifies to. Jennifer Jason Leigh was good, also, but in an intensely dislikeable way. Not her fault, it was written that way. Ms. Winningham showed off her pipes as well as her acting chops, but Ms. Leigh was playing a singer with basically no ear, who's ambition to sing was all to emulate her sister. I have no idea if Ms. Leigh can sing or not, but if so, it must have been tough to play a character who could not, but tried to (in public!) constantly.

But the character's struggle with addiction made my mind wander. It has been done to death, and the arc is always the same. Eventually the movie bored me, the cardinal sin of cinema.

One Helluva Film

[robert-temple-1 · 10/10 · 20 October 2009]

Jennifer Jason Leigh here pulls off another of her 'impossible' performances. Is there any film actress as versatile as she is? Is there anything she can't do or any role she cannot play? When she acts, she throws herself into the role with the force of an express train. Here she transforms into a hopeless, cheery, ever-smiling flop of a girl, who has failed at everything but just goes on in good humour, taking it on the chin from Life time after time. Her pathetic, sprawling, inept character is endlessly endearing, like a delightful child, even though she drives everyone she knows crazy because she is so hopeless. She can't stay off the drugs, or the booze, or out of bed with anyone for a quickie. She doesn't know when to start, she doesn't know when to stop. She is behaviour-dyslexic. Her thoroughly controlled and successful older sister gets her revenge on little sister by extending icy and permanent tolerance, disguising condescension as devotion. The two sisters are both singers, and the older one, Georgia of the title (though the star is really Sadie, the Leigh character), is a magnificent folk singer with a marvellously controlled and captivating voice (must get Winningham's CDs!). She is played brilliantly by Mare Willingham, who was justly nominated for an Oscar for it. As for Leigh, she won best actress awards from the New York Film Critics Circle Awards (highly prestigious in the USA), and the Montreal Film Festival. Leigh can sing better than she does in the film because it is part of the role that she must not be very good. However, she throws herself totally into every song she sings, and unbearably heart-rending emotion is her specialty. What a contrast to the cold control shown by her sister, who stands erect and formal, while Leigh throws herself all over the stage and repeatedly swallows and vomits up the microphone, and everything hangs out like long johns on the washing line which the neighbours don't want to see. The film is incredibly sensitive and profound, a triumph by Ulu Grosbard, who made too few films in his career, and is now well into his 80s. This is REAL film-making, and one of the endless parade of spectacular achievements by the incomparably brilliant Jennifer Jason Leigh, and surely one of her best.

Wasted talent, never-ending cruddy dive of a film

[ronnygrendl · 1/10 · 23 June 2019]

Mare Winningham and Jennifer Jason Lee picked a terrible script to showcase their depth with these sorry characters. Saw this stinker at the box office and to this day It remains at the top of my all time worst experiences at the theater.