Sordid Lives

Writer-director Del Shores serves up a heaping helping of Southern-fried comic melodrama in this adaptation of his own play about infidelity, country & western music, and Airstream trailers. When their sister dies, Latrelle (Bonnie Bedelia), LaVonda (Ann Walker), and Sissy (Beth Grant) plan her ...more

The laughs are cheap and few in this satire based on director Del Shores' theatrical play. The gay themes, which resonate most honestly, are overwhelmed by crude and predictable characterizations that don't just capitalize on the eccentricities of Texas stereotypes but go so far as to make them sympathetic to the viewer. The result is a sagging sensation of discomfort. Before long you just want Shores to get to the point and get these people out of your face, which he is painfully slow to do. ...more