Miss Firecracker

Written by Beth Henley and based on her own play "The Contest", Miss Firecracker is an Altmanesque Southern dramedy about fading or never-attained dreams, family ties, and love. If this type of material is your cup of tea it should be a winner.

Holly Hunter plays Carnelle Scott, a denizen of Yazoo City, Missouri (the film was shot in the actual town), a one-time orphan who having grown up insecure has gotten herself a reputation as the town bike. She has reformed and in a last ditch attempt to re-brand herself has entered the "Miss Firecracker" Fourth of July pageant. She lives in a tumbledown old house that she shared as a child with her cousins, Elain (Mary Steenburgen). who was Miss Firecracker of 1972 and Delmount (Tim Robbins), both of whom have returned to their childhood home, Elain to deliver the keynote address at this year's pageant and Delmount to sell the house so that he can go college and study philosophy.

Hunter is outstanding in the lead role as the woman who has staked everything on the meagre recognition that the first prize in the context will bring her, but Steenburgen, Robbins and Alfre Woodard as the flighty seamstress, Popeye, are all excellent in a production that keeps close to its stage origins. Henley’s characterisations and zesty dialogue are of course the key to the effectiveness of the film but it is neatly delivered by TV director Thomas Schlamme who brings out the poignancy of the tale without resorting to sentimentality.

Available from: Shock Entertainment

 

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