CRIMES OF THE HEART (DVD) DVD

Crimes of the Heart
Adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Beth Henley (who also penned the screenplay), Crimes of the Heart stars three high-powered actresses as three high-strung sisters. Lenny (Diane Keaton), Meg (Jessica Lange) and Babe (Sissy Spacek) gather at Lenny's deep-South home for her birthday. Lenny, the oldest, can't seem to sustain a relationship with a man. Meg is an aspiring actress who hasn't progressed beyond commercial voice overs. And Babe is released on bond from jail after shooting her senator husband. Add to this information the fact that the girls' mother killed herself in Lenny's house, and that when Meg offhandedly expresses the wish that grouchy grandfather Hurd Hatfield would slip into a coma, he does, whereupon the sisters, despite every effort to treat the situation with proper sobriety, burst into helpless laughter over her "psychic" powers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast Diane Keaton as Lenny Magrath Jessica Lange as Meg Magrath Sissy Spacek as Babe Magrath Sam Shepard as Doc Porter Tess Harper as Chick Boyle David Carpenter as Barnette Lloyd Hurd Hatfield as Old Grandaddy Beeson Carroll as Zackery Botrelle Jean Willard as Lucille Botrelle Greg Travis as Willie Jay

Crew Ferdinando Giovannoni - Art Director Albert Wolsky - Costume Designer Bruce Beresford - Director Anne Goursaud - Editor Burt Sugarman - Executive Producer Georges Delerue - Composer (Music Score) Ken Adam - Production Designer Luigi Marchione - Production Designer Stephen Marsh - Production Designer Dante Spinotti - Cinematographer Freddie Fields - Producer Garry Lewis - Set Designer Beth Henley - Screenwriter Kay Rose - Supervising Sound Editor Beth Henley - Play Author

Crimes of the Heart
Director Bruce Beresford seems to have a special affinity for the American South. In projects such as Tender Mercies (1983), Driving Miss Daisy (1989), and Rich in Love, he's used the region's more leisurely pace to explore relationships in films that thrive on a minimum of plotting. That certainly describes his adaptation of Beth Henley's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, in which the three sisters of a rather eccentric Mississippi family return to the family manse for a reunion. None of the three have had much luck with men or marriage, and their humorous commiseration about their sometimes scandalous past and affirmation of their relationship with each other are the core of the film. Yet, the Southern Gothic lack comedy aspects of the piece, such as Babe's (Sissy Spacek) reaction to having shot her husband, and the suicide of their mother, which might have worked well as anecdotes on the stage, sit less easily within the realistic framework established by Beresford. Henley seems to be using this tone to keep the audience at a safe distance, and one comes away wishing she had probed a bit more deeply. Still, this is a very funny film, and the three actresses work wonderfully as an ensemble. Sam Shepard is good as a former lover of Meg's (Jessica Lange), as is Tess Harper as an irritable next-door neighbor. Cameraman Dante Spinotti also does wonders with the soft Mississippi light. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide
 

Beth Henley: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Adapted Screenplay (nominated) Sissy Spacek: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Actress (nominated) Sissy Spacek: Golden Globe, Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or C (winner) Sissy Spacek: New York Film Critics Circle, Best Actress (winner) Tess Harper: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Supporting Actress (nominated)

Golden Globe, Best Picture - Musical or Comedy (nominated)

General Specifications: Language Options: English Subtitle Options: English Sound Processing: DD5.1: Dolby Digital w/ sub-woofer channel DDS2.0: Dolby Digital w/ 4 channels of sound from a 2-channel stereo mix. Additional Features: Widescreen presentation Audio: English 5.1 (dolby digital) English 2.0 (dolby surround) Subtitles in English Scene selection Interactive menus Digitally mastered MPAA Rating: PG13 DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 105 min   DVD Chapters: Disc #1 -- Crimes of the Heart 1. Main Titles [4:39] 2. Birthday [6:07] 3. Meg Comes Home [4:24] 4. Set Free [5:44] 5. The Past [5:53] 6. Lonely Hearts [3:34] 7. The Young Lawyer [2:42] 8. That Day [9:06] 9. Solid Defense [4:04] 10. Black Book [3:53] 11. Memories [7:17] 12. Assorted Creams [6:26] 13. Under the Moon [4:30] 14. Incriminating Evidence [5:03] 15. Granddaddy's Predicament [6:04] 16. Settlement [5:12] 17. Get Out! [3:52] 18. A Real Bad Day [9:35] 19. Two Days Late [4:15] 20. End Titles [2:30]