So I watched the Lifetime version of Steel Magnolias starring Queen Latifah & Alfre Woodard & here is what I thought of it. First of all I need to tell you that I am a HUGE fan of the original movie starring Sally Field & Shirley Maclaine & I know every word, every movement, every everything about the movie from beginning to end. I knew that this new version wouldn't be the same because it was going to be on Lifetime, plus it is clearly a newer more updated version although when I saw the cast on Anderson they said that it was the same script as the original movie just with a different cast and director. Well, I beg to differ!
I had a hard time watching the movie because I would repeat the original line after everything they said because it wasn't said right. The movie is supposed to take place in Louisiana yet none of the women had a southern accent which I found very annoying. Scenes were blended together, like lines from the middle of the movie were suddenly being said during the wedding at the beginning of the movie and then there were so many scenes that were omitted & new scenes that were added & that bugged me. Another thing I didn't care for was the removal of a major core part of the movie...the relationship between Shelby & M'Lynn. In the original movie this is a key plot line and in this version it really wasn't, it seemed to focus more on M'Lynn in general & that (for me) removed the emotion from the movie.
I thought Alfre was a good Ouiser and Phylicia was a good Clairee but the rest of the cast wasn't the best...for starters Jill & Queen seemed too young to be playing the roles they had. I didn't buy Condola as Shelby or Adepero as Annelle who in the original had a funny & cute story line but in this version she barely had one at all aside from Shelby giving her a bunch of clothes which didn't happen in the original either.
The "here, hit this" scene was moved to the beauty shop & lost the entire effect that the scene has in the original when it takes place in the cemetery. Like I said earlier, this version was really lacking the emotion the first one had, I didn't shed a single tear, didn't feel a single tug on my heart, I didn't feel for anyone in the movie because their characters were so underdeveloped. Perhaps had I not seen the original I would have liked it more but since the original is one of my favorites I don't think I could watch this again, it was a pretty shabby remake so if you are a fan of the original I'd skip this as you will probably be annoyed with it too. If you aren't familiar with the original (a lot of the cast of this version never saw the original & that's not right) then you might like this one...it's your call.
