Purely Joyful Movie!

Boring, long, and too preachy.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Del Shores directed and wrote this adaptation of his own play about how an elderly woman's (comical) accidental death causes her family and friends to rue her passing while digging up ancient misgivings. Low-budget film played the Palm Springs movie circuit for months but didn't hit many other towns; easy to see why, it's rather like an R-rated sitcom lost on the big screen. While Shores isn't exactly erratic as a director, he's possibly too flexible with his material and his group of actors, and the movie sometimes resembles nothing more than a stunt. There's not much plot (it's just an exercise in showcasing the worst possible sides of humanity for a dirty laugh), yet some good things do come out of this. Leslie Jordan pulls off a difficult transvestite role with un-self-conscious relish; not played for pitiable sympathy or all-out laughs, Jordan's Tammy Wynette-worshipping drag queen amiably walks a fine line--it's a portrayal dead-on in its accuracy, and Jordan is never a pain like the other characters. Delta Burke and Bonnie Bedelia visibly strain to punch up their scenes, while Olivia Newton-John opens the picture with a rousing song but is given nothing else important to do. Too many of the gags are recycled, rehashed and rerun, and the jokes tend to stem from various humiliations. Strictly as a curiosity, the movie certainly lives up to its oddball reputation, and there are some outré laughs for those in the proper spirit. ** from ****

Not only great acting, but hilarious. It is good to be able to laugh at ourselves. I found the characters lovable, real, and sometimes unreal. Focusing on the tragedy in life has its place to taking it seriously and to heart. While laughing at our self does not diminish or take the place of healing and helping one another, embracing who we are through the good and bad, healthy and unhealthy, is when we are truly embracing and accepting the humanness of our self and others. Life is imperfect and having a sense of humor about it while we try to grow to perfection is the right path for me. I love this movie! Thank you to the actors, producers, and directors for Sordid Lives.

One of the funniest movies I have ever seen. We've watched it so many times we know the lines by heart. These people are all in my family, and I've often wanted to holler out myself to some of my relatives "Shoot her Wardel, shoot her in the head." I can relate to being gay in a small southern town.My partner and I are gay in Arkansas, although they have just tried to pass a law to prevent us from being so. But for some reason "It ain't a workin" and there are more of us coming out now that the election's over than before. You'll laugh til you cry when Brother Boy sings Til I Can make it on My Own to the psycho with a fish in her ear - although I do not believe this was one of her "early years" songs. Watch it 10 times and then you can pretend you're in the cast.

Being from that area (in between Big Spring, Abilene & Snyder), I related 100% to this movie. In fact, I could give each character a different name because I do believe I grew up next door to these people. My favorite is Juanita putting her lipstick on with her cigarette in her mouth. I laughed so hard. AND I'm practicing that very trick myself. I watched it five times over the weekend. I'm renting the movie this weekend to take home so my redneck hick family can watch it. I'm SURE they are going to love it, too. I'm just waiting for the sequel. I really want to know where Brother Boy went and what happened to all of those people with their sordid lives. Bring us a sequel!!