Inclubabu Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

mauvemoonlight The first time I saw this film I thought it was very bad, and I did not understand it then I read some posts at the discussion board about it and not only watched it again, but read the story on which it was based.I ended up going from my original 1 star rating to a 10 star rating.I became totally enthralled with this film and this story once I finally understood what it was about.Keith Carradine as Marvin Macy, is totally HOT. He is broodingly handsome and how Miss Amelia could resist him, I can't even imagine. However, she is besotted by Lyman a "little person", back then referred to as a dwarf--possibly a distant cousin--who has turned up in her life unexpectedly.Lyman is sometimes unkind to Miss Amelia. He also leeches off her while trying to attract the attentions of Marvin Macy. Yes, there are some marvelous homosexual undercurrents in this story that I completely missed the first time around.Marvin is obsessed with Amelia but he's flattered by Lyman's interest in him.Unfortunately no love scenes occur between any of the characters, but it is still a fascinating character study.Eventually this develops into a jealous, obsessive love triangle with some very unexpected results, and tragic conssequences.Southern Gothic at its best!

TxMike The story in this movie was an Edward Albee stage play. For the most part the movie looks like a stage play, with static camera shots and characters with loud exposition and bold movement. It was set in rural Georgia, we can tell by references to going up to Atlanta, but it was actually filmed near Austin, Texas on the ranch owned by singer Willie Nelson.Vanessa Redgrave is Miss Amelia who seems to practically own the town. She runs the local store and makes and sells good moonshine in this depression era. When a family gets behind in rent she goes into their house at night, takes their sewing machine, and leaves. Things begin to change when a hunchback dwarf, Cork Hubbert as Cousin Lymon, shows up claiming to be her cousin, and he recites the family connections to back up his story. Amelia takes him in and treats him almost like a long lost son, doting on him, feeding him, letting him lounge when she is working in the heat of the day, showing him her moonshine operation.Trouble starts when Keith Carradine as Marvin Macy shows up. He is just out of prison and a flashback shows us that he some time earlier had asked Amelia's hand in marriage and she accepted, but them she threw him out for no apparent reason. When she heard he was headed back their way she announced in her crowded café that she didn't want any part of him. The theme of the movie is obscure because much of what we see doesn't make sense, so we must rely on what is explained at one point by Rod Steiger as Rev. Willin. Love takes two people, the one who loves, and the one who is the be-loved. Being the be-loved is difficult, and that is what Amelia experienced. Marvin Macy wanted to love her, but she was not able to be his be-loved, so her rejection turned Marvin into a criminal. When he returned to that town he was out to destroy her, which he did in a sense. Not my favorite type of movie, but it has some interesting elements.

ccthemovieman-1 How do you make a totally unappealing movie out of a story by one of America's most famous authors? Watch this film and find out. Maybe I am overrating author Carson McCullers, but I was impressed by "The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter" and was hoping for something memorable here, too. Forget it.Vanessa Redgrave looks like a man with her short haircut and clothing. I never found her much to get excited about in almost any movie, anyway. Rod Steiger as a preacher? How insulting is that? Unlikable characters, one after the other. Well, maybe that's the book, too, and I am being unfair to this film. I am not familiar with the story other than what I saw on screen and this was so unappealing a movie that I could never recommend it to anyone.It's just one backwards person after another in a backward town. Outside of some nice cinematography here and there, there is nothing to recommend. How anyone could sit through 100 minutes of this is amazing.I didn't even go into how bad this is directed. There is good news: this was the only film Simon Cowell directed.

Josier To take on a film version of this classic play is a bold venture. They almost pull it off, but with a poor acting job by Caradine and some questionable directorial choices it doesn't quite live up to expectations. The flying midget scene actually had me laughing . . . A powerful story that someone should take some time with and do justice to.