Main Cast: Albert Finney, Jill Clayburgh, Kathryn Erbe, Kyle MacLachlan, Piper Laurie
Release Year: 1993
Country: US
Run Time: 105 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
The final installment of what might be called Bruce Beresford's southern trilogy (the other films being Crimes of the Heart and Driving Miss Daisy) examines a disintegrating Southern family. The Odom family live in an elegant mansion, where Warren (Albert Finney) is retired and spends the days puttering around the house. One day, his daughter, a high school honor student named Lucille (Kathryn Erbe) finds a letter written by her mother Helen (Jill Clayburgh) declaring her intentions of leaving the family. Quickly re-writing the letter to remove the harsh words, she finishes it just in time for Warren to read it. Warren is crestfallen at the news of Helen's departure, telling her, "Lucille, I feel knocked off my perch about this." Warren descents into a depression as she and Warren await the return of Helen. After it becomes apparent Helen is not returning, Lucille drops out of high school to care for the home and her father, while Warren strikes up a relationship with available widow Vera Delmage (Piper Laurie). But then Lucille's no-nonsense older sister, Rae (Suzy Amis) arrives with her husband Billy McQueen (Kyle MacLachlan). Rae is pregnant and announces her intention of staying for awhile. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Ethan Hawke - Wayne Frobiness; Suzy Amis - Rae Odom; Alfre Woodard - Rhody Poole; Wayne de Hart - Sam Poole; Janell McLeod - Bookstore Clerk; J. Leon II Pridgen - Tick; Shari Rhodes
Credit
David Brown - Co-producer, Gary Daigler - Co-producer, Colleen Kelsall - Costume Designer, Bruce Carter - First Assistant Director, Bruce Beresford - Director, Mark Warner - Editor, Georges Delerue - Composer (Music Score), Erich Roland - Camera Operator, John Stoddart - Production Designer, Carl Copeland - Production Designer, Peter James - Cinematographer, Lili Fini Zanuck - Producer, Richard D. Zanuck - Producer, Carl Copeland - Set Designer, John H. Anderson - Set Designer, Roger Lifsey - Special Effects, Steve Maslow - Sound/Sound Designer, Alfred Uhry - Screenwriter, Josephine Humphreys - Book Author
The movie takes place in Charleston, South Carolina, where the Odom family lives in a large, white, Southern house. The movie is about teenager Lucille Odom (Erbe) who is in her last year of high school when mother, Helen Odom (Clayburgh), leaves the family, breaking all ties, and with Lucille being left in the care of her father, Warren Odom (Finney). The family then spends the summer trying to get their lives together, which is complicated when the older daughter of the family, Rae (Amis), moves back home with a husband (MacLachlan) and a new baby on the way, about whom Rae has mixed feelings.
Reception
The movie received mostly positive reviews. One drawback, however, was that many did not find the story believable, as the family's problems and happy ending were something of a fantasy. For example, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote "I must confess I didn't much believe the story".
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