I watched this on Thanksgiving because it seemed appropriate. This used to be my go-to movie when I was breaking in a new boyfriend and needed to see how much girly shit they would put up with. True story: one of them cried. Sidda Walker (Sandra Bullock) wrote a play based on her childhood memories, memories her mother, Viviane (Ellen Burstyn), disagrees with vehemently. Fearing that the two may never reconcile, Viviane's friends Teensy (Fionnula Flanagan), Necie (Shirley Knight) and Caro (Maggie Smith) travel to New York City and essentially kidnap Sidda, returning her to her Louisiana roots in order to show her the true story behind her mother's actions.
The relationship between mothers and daughters is a strange thing. I don't know how it is for boys since I'm not one, but girls go through a time where mothers are the enemy and, if they're lucky, eventually grow to be equals. Some people even end up being friends. I think it comes from a level of understanding that is reached as you age. When you're a kid, no one tells you things because they don't think you'll understand and you can't be trusted to keep your mouth shut. When you become an adult and the floodgates open, it makes you wonder if you ever knew these people at all. My brother didn't find out until he was fifteen that we were only half-siblings and that I had a whole other family he never knew about. I didn't find out about a family member's prescription drug addiction until her funeral.
I totally get what this movie is saying about not judging the people you love based on half a story. I'm not going to say that it's the best movie on family dynamics in the world, because it's not. It's a pretty standard chick flick in that it's more about feelings than logic, but if you're into that sort of thing, knock yourself out.
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