Rating: 
Summary: Sordid Lives
Review: This movie is a total crack up and deals with denial, [same sex relationships], infidelity, and the inner workings of a Texas family dealing with the death of the matriarch of the family. The movie revolves around the death of the matriarch who has just died in a motel room after having an affair with the husband (Beau Bridges,) of Delta Burke. She looks great by the way! The matriarch dies after tripping on Beau Bridges two wooden legs on the way to the bathroom, in a seedy motel after having committed adultery. Delta Burke's best friend is the daughter of the deceased and is worried about how this will affect their friendship. Beau Bridges plays a real jerk in this film, but you can't help but love to hate him. My favorite character is Brother Boy, played by Leslie Jordan. Brother Boy is also the son of the deceased. He is a [same sex relationship] transvestite who has been in a mental institution for 23 years after being beat up by his straight best friend. Brother Boy is my favorite character in this film. He gets through his life in the nut house by dressing up as Tammy Wynette and carrying on her legacy. He performs every day in the rec room of the mental institution for the other patients. Too funny, and he is great. Brother Boy's therapist is trying to dehomsexualize him in order to get a book deal on go on [a TV show]. This is a must see for anyone with a dysfunctional family (which most of us have.) I got a copy of the pre-released DVD and watch it almost everyday to get my Brother Boy fix. I highly recommend this movie to all. It is side splitting funny.
Rating:
Summary: true texas trash
Review: i myself am from texas and let me say that i have met people here that are just like the wackos in the movie. this movie hit a little close to home when they started naming towns here. but anyways, this movie is truly hilarious. the standout is leslie jordan. his character brother boy is too funny, almost as good as beverly leslie on will and grace. people in texas would lock someone up in a crazy house for being gay, it is just the kinda state we are. if something isnt like everything else lock it up and try to forget about it. the other funny parts are hearing about how a woman died because she tripped over the wooden legs of the man she was having an affair with. there is the gay son that ran away to california and has been to 32 shrinks trying to find a way to tell his mom he is gay only to find out that she knows and odesnt care. there are the bickering sisters and the aunt caught between them. it is so funny every time that woman snaps herself with a rubberband everytime she wants a cigarette. they also show all the gossiping that goes around small texas towns and how everyone is two-faced. there is also a part where three men are held at gunpoint and forced to dress in drag. this movie has imagination and a truly texas feel to it. some people have to live here to understand some of the humor but overall a good time can be had by all. but do not judge all uf us texans by this movie because we are not all like these people in the movie. but rest assured there are really people like this here in texas and they were probably not made up. go and buy this movie you will watch and laugh through the whole thing.
Rating:
Summary: A TOTAL HOOT!
Review: Del Shores uses a piece out of his diary to come up with this hilarious slice of life comedy!(Okay, he might of embellished things a bit!).......Bonnie Bedelia, Beau Bridges, Delta Burke and Olivia Newton-John(in a mostly singing role as Bitsy Mae Harling) head the cast with really great performances! Beth Grant is a total standout as "Sissy", the sister of the deceased(Peggy, who died after tripping over her lovers wooden legs)....she's "TRYING TO QUIT SMOKING" and will make you laugh your rear-end off! Leslie Jourdan is a total hoot as "Brother Boy".......his therapy scenes with Rosemary Alexander are INSANELY funny..... This movie is not a family film and contains adult themes.....but if you like a good laugh and dark comedy..this is one for you.......not for the conservative.......
Rating:
Summary: Sordid Lives
Review: I absolutely loved this movie and think it should be required viewing by everyone! It speaks volumes about placing labels on people that unfortunately we all have done to one degree or another. I have watched this movie several times and each time I get a better insight of the different characters and it motivates me to try and be a better person. I laugh hard and cry hard every time I watch this movie. While it is a movie that has a "gay" character and a "crossdresser" it is more importantly about how not dealing with situations in our lives and any issues we may have can lead us into a life of never being able to be totally honest with ourselves or anyone else.
Rating:
Summary: A Laugh a Minute!
Review: I am not a movie-goer, but this is a great movie! It starts off just a bit slow because it is setting the stage for the rest of the movie, then it is great! Operative word, great! So much humor, and as a prior reviewer mentioned is a bit dated, but who cares about that! Trash should be dated! I'd recommend this to anyone, we borrowed it to view, and are about to purchase our own. Better watch it!
Rating: 
Summary: Well balanced comedy about understanding each other
Review: Admittedly gay audiences may find this film more interesting than straight ones being that two of the main characters are gay. However there is a universal theme that runs throughout the film, that is now matter how screwed up, unusual or inapproachable we may seem on the outside we are all part of one family. It doesn't mean we get along all the time, in fact it may be quite the opposite most of the time. It just means that we sometimes have to look below the surface of what we see, or to accept what we don't understand instead of hating it. Some Southerners may find this movie mocking, while others may find it humourously on target. The film could've been set in rural Ohio or the upper midwest with the same types of characters, just different accents, so the setting should be neither a selling point nor a reason to avoid the film. It plays like a series of short stories all ties together by musical interludes, and the acting is outstanding, as exagerrated as it is.
Rating: 
Summary: Homophobic period piece from 1999
Review: Although produced in 1999, this film seems to come from a much earlier era. The homes, fashions, and concerns are so dated that the occasional semi-contemporary references (such as to Oprah or "Thelma and Louise") are jarring. Perhaps the writer expects us to believe that contemporary Texas is stuck in such a time warp, with no cable tv, no vcrs, no convenience stores, and a cast of characters who consume tuna casseroles and fight over mink stoles. One of the characters, a drag queen named "Brother Boy," has been in a mental institution for 23 years, undergoing "de-homosexualization" therapy. Someone needed to consult a copy of the DSM, which removed "homosexuality" as a therapeutic condition in 1973 -- long before he got there. The evil psychotherapist believes that her de-homosexualization technique (it involves thinking about women while you. . .you know) will make her rich and famous. It will only get her kicked out of the APA. And transvestism has never been grounds for institutionalization. Another character has moved to Los Angeles because he "couldn't be who is" in Texas. He's never heard of the huge gay communities in Dallas, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio? Evidently they do not exist, as even in L.A. he has had to undergo 27 years of psychotherapy and long periods of dating women before "accepting himself." He agonizes over coming out even to his friends in the hip L.A. theater community. They accept it -- big surprise -- so he goes home to Texas and informs Mom, who just wants to know if he's "the man" or "the woman." If this film were set in 1963, I could buy it, but not in 2003. The producers have evidently been living in complete ignorance of the progress gay persons have made since Stonewall -- since, indeed, they are under the impression that Stonewall never happened.
Rating:
Summary: Sordid Lies
Review: Did audiences really need another gay-is-okay shrill-fest--particularly one that brands fundamentalist Southerners as stupid and silly for their resistance to the movie's message? As humorous as is Leslie Jordan's cross-dresser portrayal, it quickly becomes apparent that most of the fun being poked is aimed at his hillbilliness and not his swishiness. The only character presented as normal is a Texas-born hollywood gay whose acting in nude, homoerotic productions is treated as artistic--while the implication is that the homefolk are low-brow and ill-bred. Yet, half the characters show no sign of sordidness, and some are straight-laced and preachily moralistic. About white trash this movie aint. It's about everyday rural people whose actions and comments are--as in real life--occasionally funny. But the film's theme turns it all into a propaganda piece that is long in the tooth and longer in the telling.
Rating:
Summary: Still Laughing!
Review: There are only three things you need to know: 1. Olivia Newton-John. The song begins with the opening credits. You're rockin' along, loving the lyrics, and all of a sudden the visual of Olivia N-J in country biker drag - complete with a rose tatoo on her right breast and a bad hairdon't - fill the screen. It is an awesome sight. 2. Beth Grant. The face, the hair, the delivery - sheer perfection. Talk about inhabiting a role! It just can't get any better than this. 3. Leslie Jordan. It just got better. This is the best performance I have seen in any film in years. And I have seen a lot. Mr. Jordan's every move, every utterance is staggering. I am not lying. This performance alone is worth whatever trouble you encounter finding the DVD to rent (try Netflix). The writing is, by turns, inspired and insipid. When it's good, it is phenomenal. When it's bad, just press fast forward. The soundtrack is great the art direction is flawless, the acting on the whole ain't bad. In sum, the three things you now know makes Sordid Lives a film well worth viewing, despite its flaws. Trust me on this one.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Little Known Movie in Texas (and elsewhere)
Review: If you've ever been to a small Texas town or know someone from a small Texas town, you've got to see this movie.
If you don't fit into the above category, you may find this movie a little bit far fetched.
As a native small town Texan, I can relate to the characters and the events (the funeral, the A/C, etc)
The writer/director depicted small Texas life with such precision, that it sometimes seems over the top-- but I guarantee that each one of those characters exists in each small town in Texas. As for the DVD, albeit not loaded with alot of special features, is ok. There are a few deleted scenes that you'll be thankful were not part of the movie. There's a few other tidbits on the DVD-- but it's no 'Lord of the Rings Special Edition'. However, the movie itself is so good, you may not notice that the DVD extras themselves are just your basic filler.
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