User reviews

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.

Recognizing the recent passings of Olivia Newton-John and Leslie Jordan would add a certain poignancy to the film, I came back to this 2000 guilty pleasure from Del Shores. It's the familiar story of a gay WeHo actor who struggles with coming home to face his small town relatives for his grandmother's funeral. Clearly based on a stage play, the movie has long dialogue-heavy scenes with few cuts, but the one-liners still land on target. Standouts remain the always underrated Bonnie Bedelia, a fully liberated Delta Burke, and Jordan who brings true heart to his cross-dressing outcast role. In more of an observational part, Olivia plays sort of a trailer trash version of her "Xanadu" muse with her "Physical" outfit.

This is a well-oiled little film that flows back and forth between characters seamlessly. Filled with laughs over things you know you shouldn't be laughing at, but they are so ....

No slick filming, just down home, small town life and it's filmed that way.

I could have done without the character Olivia Newton-John played, but she was funny while doing it! And it isn't her fault, the character just seems to be something tossed in because she was there.

While it's funny, it has some things to say. Enjoy!

One of the funniest movies I have ever seen. We've watched it so many times we know the lines by heart. These people are all in my family, and I've often wanted to holler out myself to some of my relatives "Shoot her Wardel, shoot her in the head." I can relate to being gay in a small southern town.

My partner and I are gay in Arkansas, although they have just tried to pass a law to prevent us from being so. But for some reason "It ain't a workin" and there are more of us coming out now that the election's over than before. You'll laugh til you cry when Brother Boy sings Til I Can make it on My Own to the psycho with a fish in her ear - although I do not believe this was one of her "early years" songs. Watch it 10 times and then you can pretend you're in the cast.

My girlfriend and I saw trailers and the great website for Sordid Lives over a year ago and couldn't wait to see it. We kept checking back to see if it had finally made it's way out to us in LA every so often and had begun to figure we'd have to wait for the dvd release. Then driving today we saw it playing at a little house on LaBrea and hit up the next showing.

This film was well worth the wait. It's true that the camera work isn't flashy and it's easy to tell it was adapted from a play. But all the great characters and witty dialogue are so engaging you hardly notice. The whole cast does and excellent job and I honestly haven't laughed during a film this much since Waiting for Guffman. Although I think the film may be more targeted at gay audiences there seems to be something for everyone in this. Rarely have I seen a movie that managed to be this funny while being touching and real at the same time without seeming completely contrived and cheesy.

We found out about "Sordid Lives" earlier this year while visiting Palm Springs, where it had been playing for many weeks (maybe it still is...?)

We loved it! I'm not a film reviewer, and the only reason for this note is to wonder out loud why film has not been released on video. Could it be because it's still packing 'em in (in very select theaters and festivals) or because the distributor doesn't think the video will sell?

And it's not just a "gay" movie, even though there are a lot of gay issues presented. There are all kinds of issues--social, cultural, regional, economic, alcoholic, disability---you name it. The cast is superb. As for its "Politically Incorrectness?" Take this up with Bill Maher....

dw

Del Shores adaptation definitely shows it's origin as a stage play. This movie seems to evoke strong reactions in both directions - love it or hate it. It does seem realistic to a lot of us who have exposure to southern families (if that sounds like stereotyping, this glove fits reality).

Good cast, very good performances. Though it's close to over-written, I think it lands more in realism. It's funny. Yes, it's edgy, bitter, maybe a bit mean.

Take it for what is, without expectations that Del Shore never intended. It's thorough, finely detailed, perfectly acted (except for the young male lead...). It's worth your time, and deserves good ratings.

Del Shores directed and wrote this adaptation of his own play about how an elderly woman's (comical) accidental death causes her family and friends to rue her passing while digging up ancient misgivings. Low-budget film played the Palm Springs movie circuit for months but didn't hit many other towns; easy to see why, it's rather like an R-rated sitcom lost on the big screen. While Shores isn't exactly erratic as a director, he's possibly too flexible with his material and his group of actors, and the movie sometimes resembles nothing more than a stunt. There's not much plot (it's just an exercise in showcasing the worst possible sides of humanity for a dirty laugh), yet some good things do come out of this. Leslie Jordan pulls off a difficult transvestite role with un-self-conscious relish; not played for pitiable sympathy or all-out laughs, Jordan's Tammy Wynette-worshipping drag queen amiably walks a fine line--it's a portrayal dead-on in its accuracy, and Jordan is never a pain like the other characters. Delta Burke and Bonnie Bedelia visibly strain to punch up their scenes, while Olivia Newton-John opens the picture with a rousing song but is given nothing else important to do. Too many of the gags are recycled, rehashed and rerun, and the jokes tend to stem from various humiliations. Strictly as a curiosity, the movie certainly lives up to its oddball reputation, and there are some outré laughs for those in the proper spirit. ** from ****

I saw this with my 30-something son who asked, still smiling, as we came out of the theater, "How long do you think they took to make that?" "About a week," I answered and I'll bet they had the time of their lives."

Sordid Lives manages to be sweet, glib, compassionate, irreverent, moving and very funny on an obvious shoe string budget. A triumph over crash 'em up Hollywood and stale romance flicks.

See it in a theater if you can, the group amusement is a pleasure to share.

I'm sure many family can relate to characters in this movie.

It's difficult to be sure why this movie was ever made. It does not seem to have much of any point. The comedy tries to hard and stretches too much to even come close to working. Without the comedy working, any remaining plot or other structure seems embarrasingly absent.

The one highlight of the film is the performance by Beth Grant as Sissy. She masters her role here, injecting hilarious inflection and mannerisms to the film ... even where the scriptwriters have fallen flat (which is the norm for this movie). Bonnie Bedelia's Latrelle and Ann Walker's La Vonda are also good performances, though not as memorable. Leslie Jordan plays his role of Brother Boy well also, but unfortunately his character is more annoying than shocking or interesting.

As for the movies major failures, there are too many to count. For one personal bias, I have to confess that I thought "Best in Show" and "Spinal Tap" were excellent, funny movies, while "Waiting for Guffman" was a complete bore and forced its laughs too hard (and they weren't very funny). Like "Waiting for Guffman", this movie relies heavily on your capacity to find the mere existence of small-town, backwoods people hilarious at face value. If you're not convinced by this premise, the caricatures are too over-the-top and annoying.

Watching this film was like watching old films where merely playing an alcoholic -- a la Foster Brooks on the Dean Martin Roasts -- was the entire foundation for comedy. Here the court jesters are rednecks, but it takes a lot more than caricatures to make good comedy. The result is a movie that comes off like a more deviant episode of "Mama's Family"... just replace Carol Burnett with Bonnie Bedelia.

There are two gay sub-plots to this movie that really seem to have no real connection other than the writers came up with the hair-brained formula of, "take rednecks (=funny); add gays (=funnier)". But at the same time, the movie tries to put on this gay acceptance posture at the same time it's also trying to use gayness as a laugh reflex. Hypocritical.

And why bother with Olivia Newton John at all? Talk about pointless window-dressing.

I lost patience with this film once the focus was off Beth Grant, and the rest of the film careened like a ghost-riding semi down a cliff.

If you think rednecks and gayness are comedic in their own right, you may think this is a great film. But if not, chances are that you'll find this movie doesn't have a wooden leg to stand on. Despite some redeeming performances, this was unquestionably among the 2-3 worst movies I've seen among the past 50.

As a rule, I hate superlatives, but this is one of the 4 or 5 funniest movies I've ever seen. Everyone in the cast is excellent, though I have to single out Beth Grant and Leslie Jordan, who give the greatest performances of their great careers (so far). The only shortcoming of the film is the Ty-in-L.A. scenes. They aren't really bad per se, but "coming out angst" scenes appeal to virtually no one besides the screenwriter. If you're gay, you're sick of them, and if you aren't, they either offend you or mean nothing to you. They should've been left out (or at least scaled back). Fortunately, they're over after a while and we can get on to the comedy peak of the show--the funeral, which is hysterical. This movie played for months in cities around the country, and for good reason.

An old womans (Peggy Hickey) death in a small Texas town sets off a firestorm within the family. Her sister Sissy Hickey (Beth Grant) tries to calm down Peggy's children--uptight Latrelle (a wonderful Bonnie Bedelia) and sassy Lavonda (Ann Walker). Also Latrelle wants her gay son Ty (Kirk Geiger) to come to Texas for the funeral...but he's out in LA and never told anyone he's gay and is sick of keeping it a secret. Then there's Peggy's son Brother Boy (Leslie Jordan) was has been institutionalized because he's gay. THEN there's G.W. (Beau Bridges) who was cheating on his wife Noleta (Delta Burke) with Peggy and feels guilty about her death.

This played all summer long back in 2002 in Provincetown MA (a small town with a large gay population during the summer). I never saw it there but got it on DVD the next year at the urging of some friends. THEN it just sat on my shelf for ten years till I watched it last night. My friends kept saying it's an unheralded masterpiece. You know what? They're wrong. It's really not that good. It DOES have some funny parts and the acting was great all around especially by Bedelia, Burke and Geiger (who it seems has quit show business--this was his last film to date). There's also a scene with Geiger and several totally nude men which some people may enjoy. Olivia Newton-John pops up also singing a few songs (especially the title song which is great). But, I found this more caustic and vicious than funny. The constant screaming and yelling got annoying and the treatment of Brother Boy at the institution was just horrific. Also the eccentric residents of a small Texas town are easy targets and have been done many times before. Maybe if I saw it with an audience it would work better (it was a big hit in PTown and Palm Springs) but, as it is, I was not impressed. A 6 all the way.

I saw the play in which this film is based many years ago in Los Angeles. For a play in los Angeles it wasn't the worst thing I ever saw, it had a few moments of laughter. My wife enjoyed the play so she took me (kicking and screaming) to see the film. This story should have left on the stage where it belongs. It doesn't adapt well on the big screen and the acting/writing/dialogue/vanity run amok are just too crazy to be funny or make any sense at all. Everything smells of a high school production. Get a bunch of actors in a room, have them act really crazy, get your neighbor's camera, and your in business.

Right off the bat, I'd like to say that I'm one of the admirers of this film. I'm gay, I live in Texas, and these characters are my husband's hick family! But I can understand why the film's so oft hated. While the performances are all fantastic, the characters could be seen as stereotypical and/or annoying to those who've never dealt with or cannot stand people like these. But stereotypical as they seem, these characters truly DO exist. The film comes to an abrupt conclusion without a real resolution. But there's no real conclusion in life, and obviously Del Shores ripped these characters straight from the fabric of his life. As someone else said, if you don't get it in the first ten minutes, find another film -- this isn't for you. My best friend, who's straight but generally shares my taste, gave up on the film early because he said the characters epitomized everything he hates about my husband's family (which he's also married into).

As most everyone agrees, Beth Grant gave a phenomenal performance. As the neurotic sister of the recently-deceased matriarch of the family, Grant bounces from every emotion in the spectrum as she deals with death and nicotine withdrawal. Leslie Jordan chews on the scenery as Brother Boy, the transvestite who's been institutionalized for 22 years because of his cross-dressing fetish. Rosemary Alexander is deliciously wicked as Dr. Eve, the psychologist who's trying to convert Brother Boy to a life of heterosexuality. Delta Burke gives her campiest performance since "Filthy Rich" went off the air 20 years ago as a trailer-trash variation of Suzanne Sugarbaker. The one thing I have to say about Burke is that it took real balls for her to do her first few scenes without makeup whilst stuffing her face with food (and Valium). But she gets redemption when she arrives at the bar later looking fantastic (and it was great to see her reunited with Grant). Beau Bridges gives another standout performance as Burke's cheating husband, who inadvertently was responsible for the death of his much older lover. Bonnie Bedelia is fantastic as the status-concerned daughter who spends more time worrying about what people will think about the unusual circumstances surrounding her mother's death than she spends mourning. Kirk Geiger, the sanest of the bunch, is also a standout as Bedelia's estranged gay son, who sort of ties the film together. And then there's Olivia Newton-John, with a fabulous Southern accent, who proves that over 20 years after "Grease," she still looks great and really can act. It's a shame that her part was so small, but being the other sane one in the film, she also tied the story up by performing the campy theme song.

The coolest thing about this film is that all of the minor characters are just as interesting and well-defined as the leads. There's the animated bar-tramp, the redneck who sent his "little homo best friend packin' to the loony bin," the trashy daughter who tells it like it is, the estranged girlfriend of Geiger's character who always knew he was gay... Stereotypical or not, they all give great performances and they're all very real. Although it took 3 years for the film to find its way to DVD, and the disc is horrendously overpriced, it's well worth it for anyone who enjoys theatrical plays, outrageously well-defined characters or plain camp-factor.

SORDID LIVES opens with a singer at a microphone, a woman with bleached hair that shows black roots, several tattoos, and strategically placed chewing gum as she rehearses a profanity-laced juke joint song. She looked familiar--and when she sang her voice was even more so. Who on earth was she? My jaw dropped with a clatter. Oh My God. It can't be! But yes, it is. That really is Olivia Newton-John! Written by Del Shores, SORDID LIVES was a popular ticket and award-winning comedy on the Los Angeles stage, but when Shores sought a movie deal every studio turned him down flat. Shores persevered nonetheless, and the result was an awkwardly self-directed, extremely low budget movie filmed in high definition that had the look of a cheap 1960s soap opera. Surprisingly, though, these qualities actually suited the material: a torrid, vulgar, trashy, and unexpectedly spiritual tale of a small-town Texas funeral gone to pot in the most disastrous ways imaginable.

The plot is difficult to describe, but it revolves around a "good Christian" grandmother who has died under unsavory circumstances: shacked up with a neighbor's husband in a cheap motel, she tripped over her lover's wooden legs and cracked her head on the bathroom sink! Now her lover G.W. (Beau Bridges) is getting drunk down at the bar while her daughters Latrelle and Lavonda (Bonnie Bedelia and Ann Walker) bicker with each other over the funeral arrangements--and whether or not Brother-Boy (Leslie Jordan) should be allowed to come to the funeral from the mental hospital where he has been locked up for twenty-three years because he thinks he's Tammy Wynette.

The film is a hair slow to get underway, but once it does it goes off like a rocket. There's G.W.'s humiliated wife Noleta (Delta Burke), an aging barfly named Juanita (Sarah Hunley), the psychiatrist from hell (Rosemay Alexander), angst-ridden gay grandson Ty (Kurt Geiger), bar owner Wardell (Newell Alexander) and his half-wit brother Odell (Earl H. Bullock)--and the aforementioned ex-con and juke-joint singer Bitsy Mae (Newton-John.) And it is clear that each and every one of them are having a wonderful time tearing strips off the wickedly funny script, which offers one outrageous line and scene after another.

For all the talent on display--Delta Burke, Kirk Geiger, and Bonnie Bedelia are particularly memorable--the big noise is actress Beth Grant, who is probably best known for her turn in LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE. Cast here as Sissy, sister to the dead woman, she is everything that is appallingly funny: snapping a rubber band on her wrist because she's trying to quit smoking, fanning herself up the legs of her shorts, and trying to make peace in the family before everybody meets up at the church for funereal hysteria. Her performance is one-of-a-kind and knock-you-flat at the same time.

The DVD comes with several extras, including cut scenes and an enjoyable audio commentary. I'm not all that fond of contemporary comedy--I usually find it both sterile and saccharine--but I tell you here and now: SORDID LIVES, for all its flaws, made me laugh until I cried.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Sordid lives is a candid account of the south and what happens....Its camp but so is life the humor is over the top but then again white trash is too. If your southern and have a friend or friends who are gay you may have met some of these characters ( I do and have)... The only part I didn't find believable was the break out of the nut house although it was a hoot. I like this movie Delta Burke and Olivia Newton-John were both a stitch....The clothes, sets and make-up were right on I mean really I am southern I come from a small town this people are just wandering around here, u can't swing a dead cat without hitting one or two.... The stereo-types are exact but then again small minded people all tend to act the same way hence the term

Obviously this is a very ragged film--an adaptation of a stage play that retains most of the character of its origin. The transition from stage to film and now to video is complicated by the fact that the cinematography (or videography)was rather erratic. Often there were scenes between two characters when no one was fully visible--both characters were off the edges of the screen, like a bad pan-and-scan. Technically, this film/video was a mess.

However, I think the material will resonate with anyone having a connection to small-town Southern life and particularly the gay experience of small-town Southern life. I howled, if not screamed, with laughter. That this film played for months in Palm Springs only confirms my belief, where there are few natives and many expatriates.

The writer apparently knows well the topics he addresses--compare (for wretched example) the writing in "Sweet Home Alabama", written by someone who has probably had no experience with the South other than viewing Gone With The Wind. Don't complain about "over the top" acting in a madcap comedy. Should we expect "Sex In The City" subtlety from a comedy set in small-town Texas? Give me a major break. This is not Larry McMurtry.

The strengths of the movie were the outrageous scenes--I found Tammy Wynette more touching than the subtle scenes which had that actual intent. Not that I know people who speak in one-liners, but I know these people. Don't tell me that the writer does not care about his characters

To avoid disappointment: Delta Burke is in this film. If that scares you, don't rent it. Otherwise, you'll love it.

A lot of people seem to think this movie is funny. It's not. The humor is nearly over-the-top enough in some scenes to make John Waters appear subtle. The gay pride theme is embarrassingly overt and the homophobes are charactertures. Olivia Newton John has a small but shameful role as a Texan singer. One wonders why she would crawl out from under her rock to do this. The "sordid" situation of an old woman's embarrassing death and the family troubles with a closet-case son who sees a shrink and a transvestite brother in a mental hospital is all parody material drawn from the writer/director's life. I'm sure its very funny to him, but this movies "charm" made me want to eject the tape and roast it on an open fire. Its no surprise that the performances are stagey. The picture was shot (poorly) on what looks like video, making it tacky in more ways than one. A unlikable comedy with characters who try as hard as they can to amuse, resulting in a horrible irritation. Never watch a movie that shares a seven-year-old's fascination with the word "bitch". A little film that deserves no recognition.

The title turned me off. I had no idea what to expect, only that I was seeing a film that was not in wide release, for some reason I still don't understand.

With an amazing combination of humor and humanity, Del Shores, created a masterful portrait of a "wacky", dysfunctional (by whose definition?) family that eventually grew to know itself at its highest level.

The characters were broadly drawn, but due to the rich acting level caricature was avoided, and each character retained his or her humanity. Moreover, this film, originally a play, retained the intimate quality of a stage play that is often lost when a play is transferred to the screen.

"Sordid Lives" is for everyone & is not just a "feel good" homosexually oriented move. Don't understand why it wasn't more widely distributed because it's surely on my list of the 20 best films ever.

While I have the life experience to appreciate the core message and material of this darkly comic take on Southern small town prejudice of the 20th century, I find the execution to be a bit dated and cringey in spite of the star-studded cast. I could have completely done without Olivia Newton-John randomly singing solos like I was watching an episode of Hee Haw.

From what I understand Sordid Lives is a stage play and is surely better enjoyed as such. The budget on this film is literally non-existent. It completely lacks atmosphere and the cinematography is realistic to the point of being unpleasant, reminiscent of watching someone else's family home movies.

I did laugh out loud a few times and applaud the queer messaging, though.

This movie is painfully bad. The characters are incredibly insulting. Not a single one seems like a real human being; they are all cartoonish. The story ranges from unrealistic, to sappy, to simply boring.

What a waste of film.

A trailer park treat. Rich in character's and dialogue. My favorite scene's were with Brother Boy and Dr. Eve Bolinger. His performance as the" Tammy Wynette transvestite" in therapy is not to be missed Fans of Oliva will not be disapointed. She is the towns Honky Tonk singer throughout the film. The subplot with Ty was a little tiresome...but the film is quite enjoyable

I don't believe Olivia Newton-John could ever play in such a horrible movie. And Beau Bridges and Bonnie Bedelia are awful portraying such characters. I had to subtitle the movie for a local Tv station as my work requires me to do that. So with all my experience in movies I can only say it's a horrifying movie. All about crazy men and women and abour some homosexuals. Bad movie. I do not recommend this movie to anybody else. For no matter what ever watch this movie. Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaddddddd moviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeee !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It should never have left the screenplaywrighter's mind. I don't know what else to write not to encourage people to watch it. That's it people. Don't ever watch this movie.