Steel Magnolias
Steel Magnolias is a 1989 American comedy-drama film directed by Herbert Ross. It is a film adaptation of Robert Harling's 1987 play of the same name. The play and film are about the bond a group of women share in a small-town Southern community, and how they cope with the death of one of their own.
The story is based on Robert Harling's real life experience of the death of his sister, Susan Harling Robinson, in 1985 due to complications from Type 1 diabetes. He changed his sister's name in the story from Susan to Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie.
The title suggests the main female characters can be both as delicate as the magnolia flower, and as tough as steel.
Plot
Annelle Dupuy, a shy, awkward beauty school graduate, moves to a northwestern Louisiana town where Truvy Jones hires her to work in her home-based beauty salon.Meanwhile, M'Lynn Eatenton and her daughter, Shelby, busily prepare for Shelby's wedding that is being held later that day. They, and Clairee Belcher, the former mayor's cheerful widow, arrive at Truvy's to have their hair done. While there, Shelby, who has type 1 diabetes, suffers a hypoglycemic attack, but recovers quickly with the women's help. M'Lynn reveals that due to Shelby's medical condition, her doctor advises against her having children. Shelby had considered ending her engagement to her fiancé, Jackson, so he would not be deprived of children.
Grouchy and sarcastic Louisa "Ouiser" Boudreaux arrives at the salon and immediately begins interrogating Annelle about her background. Annelle tearfully reveals that her no-good husband, Bunkie, is evading the police and has taken all their money and the car. Annelle further admits she is unsure her marriage is legal. Shelby, sympathetic, invites Annelle to the wedding reception where she meets bartender Sammy DeSoto. Soon after, Annelle, following a short-lived wild streak, becomes deeply religious, annoying everyone, including Sammy.
During the Christmas holidays, Shelby announces she is pregnant. Everyone is thrilled except for M’Lynn, knowing it is too risky. Truvy encourages M'Lynn to instead focus on the joy a new baby brings.
Shelby has a baby boy, Jackson Jr., but soon develops kidney failure requiring regular dialysis. Around Jackson Jr.'s first birthday, Shelby undergoes a successful transplant with M'Lynn's donated kidney. Shelby recovers but four months later, Jackson arrives home to find her unconscious. Shelby is comatose, having contracted an infection in her central nervous system due to the suppressive therapy that keeps her body from rejecting the kidney. After doctors determine Shelby's condition is irreversible, the family jointly decide to remove her life support.
After the funeral, M'Lynn breaks down but the other women comfort her. M'Lynn gradually accepts her daughter's decision to have risked her life in return for a few special years of motherhood and decides to focus her energy on helping Jackson raising Jack Jr. Annelle, now married to Sammy and pregnant, tells M'Lynn she wants to name her own baby after Shelby, as she was the reason she and Sammy met. M'Lynn approves, stating, "Life goes on."
At the town Easter Egg Hunt, Annelle goes into labor and is rushed to the hospital and another life begins.
Cast
Background
The original play dramatized experiences of the family and friends of the play's author following the 1985 death of his sister from diabetic complications after the birth of his namesake nephew and the failure of a family member's donated kidney. A writer friend continuously encouraged him to write it down in order to come to terms with the experience. He did but originally as a short story for his nephew then later to get an understanding of the deceased mother. It evolved in ten days into the play.Production
Released by TriStar Pictures in the United States on November 15, 1989, it grossed more than $83.7 million at the box office. Harling's first produced screenplay, he adapted the original film script which was then heavily rewritten beyond the on-stage one-set scenario of the stage production: the scenes increased and the sequence was more tightly linked with major holidays than the play; the increased characters beyond the original, all-female play cast caused dialogue changes between on-screen characters. Natchitoches, Louisiana served as both the 1989 film location and scenario location with historian Robert DeBlieux, a former Natchitoches mayor, as the local advisor. The house where much of the film was shot is now a six-suite B&B, available for rent.Reception
It received generally positive reviews from critics and has a score of 68% on Rotten Tomatoes from 31 reviews. The site's consensus states: "Steel Magnolias has jokes and characters to spare, which makes it more dangerous when it goes for the full melodrama by the end." An example of a less enthusiastic critic was Hal Hinson of The Washington Post, who said that it felt, "more Hollywood than the South." More enthusiastic was Roger Ebert, who said that the film was, "willing to sacrifice its over-all impact for individual moments of humor, and while that leaves us without much to take home, you've got to hand it to them: The moments work." The film received a score of 56 based 13 critics on Metacritic with "mixed or average reviews".The movie received a limited release on November 15, 1989: entered the U.S. box office at No. 4 with an opening weekend gross of $5,425,440; by the time of wider release two days later it grossed $15,643,935; stayed in the top 10 for 16 weeks, gross $83,759,091 domestically with a further $12,145,000 with foreign markets giving a worldwide gross of $95,904,091.
Home media
The film was released on VHS on June 19, 1990, and on DVD July 25, 2000, allowing the film to gross a further $40 million. The movie's overall gross was $135,904,091. The film was released on Blu-ray through the boutique label Twilight Time, on September 11, 2012-it has since gone out of print. A 30th anniversary Blu-ray was released on May 28, 2019.Awards and nominations
| Year | Association | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 1989 | Academy Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Julia Roberts | |
| 1989 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture | Julia Roberts | |
| 1989 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama | Sally Field | |
| 1990 | British Academy Film Awards | Best Actress in a Supporting Role | Shirley MacLaine | |
| 1990 | Chicago Film Critics Association | Best Supporting Actress | Shirley MacLaine | |
| 1990 | American Comedy Awards | Funniest Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture | Shirley MacLaine | |
| 1990 | American Comedy Awards | Funniest Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture | Olympia Dukakis | |
| 1990 | People's Choice Awards | Favorite Dramatic Motion Picture | Steel Magnolias |