|
© Miramax.All Rights Reserved.
© Miramax.All Rights Reserved.
|
In some families there is one member who has become an
outsider and has plights unlike anyone else in the
family. That person often has a
substance abuse problem, but there frequently seems to be
more going on. The person also has psychological
issues. Sometimes it seems that alcohol and drugs
are used as self-medication to cope with whatever it is
that troubles the person, but the gains that were once
realized by the alcohol and drugs have since been
canceled by the consequences of long term substance
abuse. This movie is about such a family and concentrates
on the often strained and yet, unspoken, loving
relationship between two sisters. Georgia is a
successful, almost boringly stable woman who is a popular
singer, a wife, and a mother. Sadie is a troubled failure
who wants to be a success like her very talented older
sister and keeps trying, failure after failure, going on
in a haze of liquor and uppers.
For Georgia, life seems balanced and fulfilling. There is
a serene quality to her singing as if she can execute the
most moving songs without having personally know the
trouble that the song is about. Her personal life seems
untouched by the demands of being a popular entertainer.
Her marriage is secure and solid. She has children who
are well behaved and affectionate. The only source of
difficulty seems to come whenever Sadie shows up.
One look would tell just about anyone that Sadie is
troubled and "trouble." A thin bundle of raw
emotions that twitches and exaggerates every gesture,
Sadie is one of those people whose lives are always on
the edge. She seems to live in a desperate narrow zone
that exists between safety and ruin. Where most people,
if caught in this region, would do whatever they could to
move to a safer place, Sadie seems to be energized by the
danger, appearing to run at blind speed to find an even
thinner edge, tempting the world to bring on the worst.
Emotionally, socially, financially, she is all but spent,
and it appears that alcohol and drugs are all that keep
her from collapse. Many people like Sadie end up in the
morgue, often never identified, and placed in a cardboard
coffin with the name "John Doe or Jane Doe" or
just a number. We can see that potential in Sadie.
Sadie is a backup singer who works in marginal bands. She
sings from the gut. Her performances are hardly anything
that most would think of as singing. What comes out is a
wail of raw, disturbing emotion. She might add energy to
a band and the lead singer but when she does a solo, her
rendition reveals not only her torture but is torture for
her audience. Most would say that Sadie cannot sing.
We do not know how Sadie became this rebellious, unstable
person. Is it because she became addicted to drugs and
alcohol? Is it because of how she grew up? She seems to
come from a reasonably good family but who can we really
tell? She is distant from her father, but we cannot say
if this reflects problems going back to a troubled family
life or her father's response to her adult life
style. Or maybe both. Is it because she
is in the shadow of her sister, Georgia, who,
commercially and critically, is a successful singer? We
can see jealousy and even insolent pride in her lack of
talent. But even seeing this, we really can’t say
what makes her tick.
Georgia both loves and is uncomfortable with Sadie.
Should we be surprised? She is aware of Sadie's alcohol
and drug problem and her ugly life style. Georgia
observes that Sadie "swallows up people whole."
One senses that she learned this from personal
experience. After a benefit concert at which Georgia
gives Sadie some unsought vocal backup during a solo,
Sadie confronts her, asking Georgia what it felt like
"pulling me out." "Like a thousand pounds
of dead weight," George admits.
With someone like Sadie it would be easy to find oneself
rejecting or rescuing the person out of guilt or loyalty.
Georgia does neither, and this is what gives a powerfully
affirming lift to this film. Georgia has achieved a
personal, if uneasy, peace about her sister and is able
to maintain a delicate balance when dealing with Sadie.
She is supportive, without enabling, and accepts her,
even though she knows she cannot do anything about
Sadie's life style. Sadie tests her, but Georgia neither
reacts out of guilt or anger in a way that would
perpetuate a sick relationship. Georgia does not do this
perfectly. That’s impossible. Overall, one senses
that Georgia accepts that whatever will happen to Sadie
will happen. She seems prepared for the worst and still
does what is reasonable, hoping that Sadie can begin to
pull herself out of her hell hole.
When the movie ends, we do not know how things will work
out, or if they even will. For the moment Sadie seems to
be staying clean of alcohol and drugs, but her anguish
and alienation are still evident. This is the way it is
for the Sadies of the world. Some pull themselves out,
but others do not.
Available from Buena Vista Home Video
Rated R by M.P.A.A.
|
© Miramax.All Rights Reserved.
© Miramax.All Rights Reserved.
© Miramax.All Rights Reserved.
|
