Steel Magnolias : It was okay but one scene really ruined it for me.

It was okay but one scene really ruined it for me.

This was an okay version, just okay. I admit my love for the original made me biased towards this remake, but I did enjoy seeing this on a lazy Saturday afternoon.

At first I had many grievances. I thought the actress who played Shelby was just awful! I also thought Queen Latifah was horribly miscast in an uncomedic role.

Originally, I also had a huge complaint with the ending because I felt it was very rushed. I thought about why it didn't seem as emotional as the original 'graveyard scene' and I don't believe it was because they changed the location. I think it's because in the original, the breakdown happened immediately after Shelby's funeral where everyone's nerves were brittle and tense. This newer ending seemed to take place weeks later where some level of healing had already begun for many of the characters. Everything would still feel raw for M'lynn and her family but the lesser charged, and shorter emotional scene seemed to say she has started to come to terms with her loss and is moving on. At least that is my take on the scene.

The one scene, however, that I cannot reconcile myself to in this new version is Shelby's death scene. Now Queen Latifah did a very good job in depicting her grief and I liked how they had her character keep at Shelby, talking to her, trying hard to act as normally as she could, denying the inevitably outcome. But what absolutely ruined the scene for me was the unneccessary back ground music, which seemed to grow louder and more intrusive as the scene played on.

The original death scene where there was no speaking, no background noise of any kind, except for the beep of the heart monitor, was pitch perfect in its simplicity. The solitary, onminous beeping, which eventually slowed and finally became a single continuous sound, conveyed in the simpliest form what had happened. I kept thinking if they removed that music the scene would be more emotionally charged. You would hear just M'lynn talking, questioning Shelby only to have silence answer her. That mood music was like those cue cards they used to prompt live audiences with, telling them it's now time to cry. Completely unneccessary.

"No one should write a book God wouldn't want to read."

Re: It was okay but one scene really ruined it for me.

The ending scene in the beauty parlor with M'Lynn's breakdown was exactly how the original stage version ended. The 1989 film is the one that 'changed the location.' I appreciated that they did it that way as a sort of homage to the original source material in this new take on the story.