What is essentially an exposé of what people in the Louisiana bayou are like, just so city slickers like New York City resident Jill Clayburgh will begin to see them as something other than hicks or backwards, comes out to be a thought-provoking character driven drama worth seeing once. She's exhausted by her metropolitan life as a columnist from Cosmopolitan magazine, tired of the fights with daughter Martha Plimpton, a rebel with no cause, so she does a reverse "Beverly Hillbillies" and drags her down to the deep south so she can locate relatives that she has never met. This leads her to cousin Barbara Hershey who thinks she is from the IRS, and refuses to give up her house. But once Clayburgh proves her claim, Hershey welcomes her and Plimpton to stay, and as they get to know each other, the secrets begin to unfold which creates a bit of mystery.
The house reminds me of many of the old style southern mansions you see falling apart in other movies, particularly Bette Davis's home in "Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte". I've also seen several horror films that have an atmosphere like this, such as the camp classic "Frogs". But it's not only the difference in these people's lifestyles that guide the drama, and it is here where Clayburgh basically becomes just an observer, and the seemingly odd lives that Hershey and her wacky family live in starts to make more sense as the two city women become fascinated by the goings-on that they see traveling up and down the muck filled river where there's more issues than just snakes that get into the motorboat.
Not as much a film than a docudrama, the camera becomes the star, and the plot takes a background to everything going on in this mysterious world right in our own country and backyard. Plimpton's relationship with her new found cousins is also an important plot point, and after a while, you're prepared for anything because in this world far away from society, anything is possible, even homemade stitches being put in one of Hershey's children's head. I don't think that this is a film that everyone will enjoy, but it is fascinating to watch for a world most people will never get to visit. The ending goes into some devastating, dark places based on the denial of Hershey's character and the three male cousins (one locked up for alleged psychotic behavior, obviously not the only one), and the tragic consequences that come out of these long hidden secrets and sudden sickening twists involving Plimpton.
Plimpton gets to really blossom in this film, going from cynical New Yorker to sudden human being, losing her own selfishness as she puts man-made contraptions away and sees the world from a bigger view. I was surprised that Hershey, who gets a lot of acclaim for this, really doesn't have excessive screen time, but she's really brave in going without makeup for a change, far earthier then she would be as the glamorous tragic heroine the year later in "Beaches". This won't be considered one of the highlights of Clayburgh's career, but I found that she did what she was directed to do, and does become more content and less neurotic as the film goes on. "Shy People" may not be the outgoing film that calls people to watch it, but if you give it a chance, you'll find the artistic success that is strived for even if it is not a triumph.
The house reminds me of many of the old style southern mansions you see falling apart in other movies, particularly Bette Davis's home in "Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte". I've also seen several horror films that have an atmosphere like this, such as the camp classic "Frogs". But it's not only the difference in these people's lifestyles that guide the drama, and it is here where Clayburgh basically becomes just an observer, and the seemingly odd lives that Hershey and her wacky family live in starts to make more sense as the two city women become fascinated by the goings-on that they see traveling up and down the muck filled river where there's more issues than just snakes that get into the motorboat.
Not as much a film than a docudrama, the camera becomes the star, and the plot takes a background to everything going on in this mysterious world right in our own country and backyard. Plimpton's relationship with her new found cousins is also an important plot point, and after a while, you're prepared for anything because in this world far away from society, anything is possible, even homemade stitches being put in one of Hershey's children's head. I don't think that this is a film that everyone will enjoy, but it is fascinating to watch for a world most people will never get to visit. The ending goes into some devastating, dark places based on the denial of Hershey's character and the three male cousins (one locked up for alleged psychotic behavior, obviously not the only one), and the tragic consequences that come out of these long hidden secrets and sudden sickening twists involving Plimpton.
Plimpton gets to really blossom in this film, going from cynical New Yorker to sudden human being, losing her own selfishness as she puts man-made contraptions away and sees the world from a bigger view. I was surprised that Hershey, who gets a lot of acclaim for this, really doesn't have excessive screen time, but she's really brave in going without makeup for a change, far earthier then she would be as the glamorous tragic heroine the year later in "Beaches". This won't be considered one of the highlights of Clayburgh's career, but I found that she did what she was directed to do, and does become more content and less neurotic as the film goes on. "Shy People" may not be the outgoing film that calls people to watch it, but if you give it a chance, you'll find the artistic success that is strived for even if it is not a triumph.