VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Sordid Lives (2003)
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The long and sordid journey of Texas playwright Del Shores' amiable 1996 play from stage to big-screen cult phenomenon is an unusual one indeed. A long-running hit downtown at Circle Theatre, the play appealed to a variety of audiences, young and old, gay and straight. The film, which made its Fort Worth premiere at Q Cinema's 2000 festival, does the same, though, unfortunately, not with the same panache. The story centers on a misfit Texas clan reunited after the accidental death of the family matriarch. Sister Sissy (Beth Grant) is a reformed chain smoker. Daughters LaVonda (Ann Walker) and Latrelle (Bonnie Bedelia) are at each other's throats, while their other sibling, "Brother Boy" (the hilarious Leslie Jordan), sits in a mental institution trying to cure a bad case of "homosexualism." Beau Bridges, Delta Burke and Olivia Newton-John also star. The flaws tend to stand out a bit more on multiple viewings, and the DVD has much more of a video look when compared with the film that played in theaters. But the cast is strong, the jokes are funny and some of the more touching moments will sneak up on you. Just try not to enjoy yourself. The DVD extras include an alternate opening, deleted songs and scenes, filmmaker and cast commentaries and interviews and widescreen format.
A cult in culottes
The enthusiastic reaction of audiences to Del Shores' 1996 stage version of Sordid Lives was nothing compared with what would happen when he brought his vision to the movies.
With fans returning for multiple viewings, shouting out their favorite lines while decked out in teased wigs and culottes, Shores' low-budget directorial debut has become a Southern-fried Rocky Horror Picture Show.
"It's just wild," Shores says of the response. "If you were to go to Palm Springs and see the way that they come dressed up, and it's not just drag queens. I would understand it if it was just drag queens."
Actress Beth Grant, whose wave-shaped helmet of hair and owl-like spectacles she wears as Sissy have made her a frequent inspiration for fans playing dress-up, is delighted with the unexpected attention.
"I love that they dress up like me," she says. "The first time I saw somebody dressed up like Sissy, it was like getting to meet her in person. I was just thrilled."
Shores and Grant are working together again as Grant is starring in Shores' latest stage production, The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife, currently onstage in Los Angeles.
After a Sunday performance of Trials, both Shores and Grant plan to attend a special Sordid Lives-themed Oscar party in which all the waiters will be serving in Sissy drag.
"They said they wanted to honor Sordid
Lives since we would never get an Oscar," Shores says.