Pink is My Signature Color | Movie Review: Steel Magnolias

I remembered bits and pieces of Steel Magnolias from when my mom watched it as I grew up. It wasn't odd for my mom to cry during movies so, I didn't think anything of it.

This is the movie that your overly-emotional mom was right about all along.

It's somehow slow-paced and incredibly fast all at the same time and I was left breathless and sobbing by the end. You honestly can't explain the appeal of this movie. It's one of the rare movies you just have to watch. It's the combination of the script and the cast and the dynamics... it's seamless and intricate perfection.

The cast is sublime. You have Sally Field as the matriarch of the Eatenton family, M'Lynn. She's raw and absolutely believable as the mom. There were many times when just the subtlety in her face reminded me of my mom. Her daughter, Shelby, is played by a baby Julia Roberts. Her hair is big and bouncy and red and marvelous. The way her lines are sometimes bothersome to me, but otherwise she's amazing in her role.

The legendary Dolly Parton plays Truvy Jones, our resident glamour technician. I will literally watch Ms. Parton in anything and everything all day, every day, but she goes above and beyond in Steel Magnolias. I honestly may look on YouTube to see if there's a compilation of just her scenes. Her trainee, Annelle Dupuy, is played by Daryl Hannah (who just recently married Neil Young - what???).

My truly favorite part of the entire movie is the friendship between Clairee Belcher (Olympia Dukakis) and Ouiser Boudreaux (Shirley MacLaine). I live for their love/hate relationship. I want to be one of them. Preferably, I'd like to be the fabulously sassy, classy, and smart-assy Clairee, but I'd also settle for being the cantankerous gardener with the heart of solid gold who would donate her kidney to save her St. Bernard.

Steel Magnolias revolves around these wonderfully complex ladies, but mostly Shelby's troubles with diabetes. I remembered her being sick and the ending from when I was little, but I never once remembered the mention of diabetes. Now, diabetes is close to our hearts because my sister was diagnosed when she was 17. I honestly thought she was going to die - in my 9-year-old brain. It was traumatic. I think that added an endless amount of emotion into the movie for me.

This was the first time I'd watched Steel Magnolias as an adult and I honestly blubbered like a baby. It was one of the few times where I truly felt like my mom was there. It was amazing and I can't wait to try watching it without sobbing.