Crimes
of the Heart
Released
December 1986
Starring
Diane Keaton, Jessica Lange (as Meg McGrath), Sissy Spacek, Tess
Harper, Sam Shepard
Directed by Bruce Beresford
105 min.
Box
Office gross - $22.9 million
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Based
on the play by Beth Henley, Crimes of the Heart is the story
of three eccentric southern sisters, who have all reunited one hot summer
at their family home because the youngest, Babe, has decided to shoot
her husband. This disconcerting piece of news does not really faze the
sisters. After all, this is a family in which their mother made national
headlines when she hung herself along with her cat (“she was just having
a really bad day”). Diane Keaton is the eldest sister, Meg, who lives
the spinster life at home and takes care of her ailing grandfather.
Jessica Lange plays Meg, the middle sister, who left home to pursue
a singing career but never quite made it. And Sissy Spacek is Babe,
the younger sister who has had an affair with a teenage local boy. It
is Babe’s husband’s attempt to break up the affair that prompts her
to decide to shoot him.
A
powerhouse ensemble cast makes this a fun film although it is not as
funny as you expect it to be. All three actresses (actually four, Tess
Harper is equally good as a meddling cousin named Chick) are quite good
and they do so without attempting to outshine each other. Diane Keaton
is great as the jittery Meg - she is hilarious as she runs through the
house with a box of chocolates accusing Meg of taking a bite out of
each one. Sissy Spacek (the one who received the Oscar nomination) is
wide eyed and dreamy as Babe, who is not quite with us. Her suicide
attempt scene is the funniest scene in the movie. And Jessica Lange
- dressed in blue denim with spiky hair that she trims with a razor
blade - is the epitome of the road worn slut Meg.
Critical
Sampling:
"Lange,
as the chain smoking Meg with her mop of straw-colored hair and heavy
makeup, offers the most astounding portrait - a loser who is down but
never out". - Lawrence O'Toole, Macleans
"Lange
seems an effortless comic virtuoso here - there's no fussiness in her
acting." - Pauline Kael, The New Yorker
"Lange,
lusciously blowsy, gives a sharp, wonderfully sexy comic performance."
- David Ansen, Newsweek
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