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 funeral -- an unenviable task, considering that they must carefully hide the deceased's affair with amputee G.W. (Beau Bridges) from his wife, the vindictive Noleta (Delta Burke). Meanwhile, the trio has
to come to terms with two cases of sexual orientation: Latrelle's openly gay soap-opera star son Ty (Kirk Geiger), whose sexuality she continues to deny; and their only brother, Boy (Leslie Jordan), who's serving a sentence in a mental ward for his adamant belief that he is actually country & western legend Tammy Wynette. Playing an aspiring singer-songwriter, Olivia Newton-John turns up to provide the film with the occasional musical interlude. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
While the film at times feels like a clumsily acted play, a surprising turn by Delta Burke carries the cast out of the doldrums of an often-strained plot line.
Runs the risk of alienating its audience by going a little too far over the top and, in its efforts to be different, delivers instead, more of the same.
Things always feel about a half step from spinning wildly out of control, but Sordid Lives remains a guilty pleasure that you enjoy and keep to yourself .
The corn of Sordid Lives comes heavily salted -- nudity, bold talk, gay coming-out, transvestism -- but it's the crunch of the corn that will either win you or send you desperately to the lobby for the real thing.
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