Southern Belles (2005)

Pretty Good

How sad is this?

Boring

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Set in Georgia, filmed in North Carolina. About Belle and Bell.Belle and Bell were simply accidentally named almost the same, but as young adults are best friends. Living in a very small town about 250 miles SW of Atlanta. Belle works as a sales clerk in the local variety store, Bell tends the bar at the local saloon. Their lives are mundane and the guys are, as Bell says, "the butt crack of humanity."Anna Faris is Belle Scott and Laura Breckenridge is Bell Granger . One day while day-dreaming of sorts Belle picks up a leaflet on Atlanta and brings it home, shows Bell, they are going to break out of their humdrum, dead-end lives and go off to the big city. But first they need money, Belle figures just under $3000. So they save their tips, do odd jobs, all with Atlanta as their goal.But them Bell meets a new guy, Justin Chambers as the local police, Rhett Butler. They hit it off but Bell neglects to tell him she and Belle are going to Atlanta. Until later. But that causes new issues.The whole movie has a sort of feel of the old 'Dukes of Hazard' TV series. There is even a car chase scene that seems like it is going in slow motion at times. There is hunting for wild turkey. Friends with a living room filled with mounted wildlife on the walls. Truly an overall dumb comedy but with a few good laughs. I watched it for one reason, I like Anna Faris and I had not seen this one yet, made before she became better known. SPOILER: When the two girls finally got in the car and started for Atlanta 250 miles away, they got only as close as 238 miles. Bell missed Rhett and went back for him. He proposed. As the movie ends Belle is boarding the bus, heading to Atlanta by herself.

Looking for a typical Hollywood illustration of the South that is easy to digest and doesn't challenge any stereotypes? Well then this is your flick.It is obvious that the writers/directors passed through "the south" on a road trip to Spring break in Daytona, Florida (hope you enjoyed the Jager shots). This movie is as authentic as John Cassavete's writing/directing "Robocop." If "Southern Belles" posed as an encyclopedia to America; everyone in LA would be a silicone pumped, yoga instructor thus making every New Yorker an angry cab driver.Save your time on this one, check out a David Gordon Green movie.

A simple unpretentious bit of fun that is carried mostly on the strength of the incredibly appealing cast.The two lead actresses are adorable and funny. They both have natural comedic timing that rises above the material they're given. Don't get me wrong, the writing is not bad, and is far more entertaining and fresh than most predigested pap coming from the big studios and starring Robin Williams or Jim Carrey, but it's undercut by the shove-it-down your throat direction.It seems as the filmmakers' motto was: "When in doubt, abandon all subtlety." For example, during one character's dialogue, they actually use a snare drum and cymbal on the soundtrack to punch up the joke! I'm not kidding. I didn't hear an actual rimshot, but probably only because the sound designer didn't have it in his FX library. It's from the horrid "Scrubs" school of comedy where they use cartoon sound effects to scream at the viewer: "THERE'S A JOKE HERE, PEOPLE!" It was odd, because the movie didn't deserve that sort of treatment at all, and the script was smarter than that. It's too bad the filmmakers didn't trust the material more and let the jokes live on their own. They also overused music - another sign of low confidence in the film. (An old rule of film-making is that the more music a movie has, the worse the script is. Music should enhance the moment, not try to manufacture a moment that ain't there. Think of any WB show like "The O.C." or "7th Heaven" and how they overuse the cheesy music.) If I'm using TV shows to compare to this movie, it's because this film was shot rather like TV. It was very dialogue-driven, and not very cinematic. The directors were also overly fond of using short lenses (giving the look a very wide feel). Short lenses can induce a sense of extreme closeness to characters, to the point of distortion. They are also used to give a sense of immersion in a world, but when the world they created is not very cinematic, then the technique is counterproductive.They were also fond of having actors look almost directly into the camera. A lot. I mean really a lot. The end result is that it reinforces the shove-the-movie-down-the-viewer's-throat feeling. The characters feel as though they are taking to the audience instead of each other.The strength of the film is the cast, especially the 2 leads, who have a joy of performance that's contagious and a real treat to watch. And the rest of the cast shines as well.Which is where the directors really did their jobs - they were smart enough to give their cast a big movie playground to run free in, and we as audience members benefit.If you like the TV show "My Name is Earl" or films where character's ambitions are comedically out of touch with their reality like "Raising Arizona", then you would most likely enjoy this diverting film.It's fast-paced, energetic, and has a cast that never disappoints, even when the script does.One odd side note, the film is set in the South, and the filmmakers put Confederate flags everywhere. I don't remember that many Confederate flags in the South, and it felt too goofy and kind of racist. But there were zero black people in the film, also unrealistic for the South.But then again, they also said grace before they ate, something I never see either. Maybe I'm just out of touch with Jesus and racism.Anyway, this is a good rental just for the performances.

This gem of a film is intelligent without taking itself too seriously, effortlessly hilarious, and genuinely touching, without the emotional manipulation so common to romantic comedies. With tongue-in-cheek homages to Gone with the Wind, Thelma and Louise and other screen gems, these debut screenwriters show depth of knowledge of southern life, and deep compassion for their characters. The true joy of the film, however, is in watching such talented young actors! Laura Breckenridge and Anna Faris bring their characters subtly and beautifully alive.I am generally not a fan of romantic comedies or buddy-pictures, which I usually find to be predictable and forgettable. This is one of those rare films that combines the story of a beautiful, believable friendship, and a love story with complexity and chemistry.This film has been a hit at film festivals all over the country; it is clear that audiences have fallen for a visually beautiful, brilliantly acted, and thoroughly entertaining film.