Wow! What a powder keg this movie was! I came by it completely by
mistake and within the first two minutes I was hooked and I didn't turn away for
the rest of the movie. Set during a sweltering New Orleans summer, housewife
Shirley Booth is living in a delusional dream world. Her husband, Anthony
Quinn, still loves her as a person and a mother to their three children, but
he's tired of her and goes off all the time boozing and sleeping with younger
women. Her children are another matter. Both of the boys are old
enough to move out on their own, but she still smothers them. And her
daughter, Shirley MacLaine, is in love with a shallow guy, but mother only
worsens things by giving her well-intentioned advise that doesn't turn out too
well.
If you're used to Shirley Booth as the spunky maid from "Hazel" you're gonna be
shocked when you see her here cause she turns in a heartbreaking
performance. Her whole life since she was just a teenager she's dedicated
to her husband and children, but now that they've outgrown her, she's
lost. She never developed a personality of her own. Her family
was her personality.
Lots and lots of screaming and arguing, blistering fast pace, excellent script
with some brutal as fuck lines, award level acting by the entire cast, thought
provoking story and an ending that actually caught me off guard. Highly
recommended.
