No truer words were ever spoken than those of Gloria Clark's father about his wastrel son-in-law Phil. The father was the owner of a coal mine, and Phil's father was worked to death in the mines. His dear mother worked as a charwoman, cleaning toilets at the St. Francis Academy, so that her boy could attend a prestigious school. Then, Phil married the daughter of the coal mine owner. And the father recognized Phil for precisely what he was: "a worthless bum."
In the community in which the main set of characters grew up, it was an incestuous environment. While they have stayed friends over the years, there is baggage brought along by everyone. The three best friends of Gloria, including Scarlett, Monica, and Kim, have all had some sort of illicit relationship with the gadfly Phil.
While Phil is attempting to poison Gloria and run away with any one of the three women who will accompany him, the coal miner's daughter gets wise to Phil's plan. The former cello player is no dummy, and Gloria plots revenge on the whole pack of them.
As opposed to a linear narrative, there was a meandering flow to the film that juggled the past and the present. The filmmakers became overly cute in repeating in flashback the opening scene in which Scarlett in throwing a gala celebration in honor of her divorce from her husband. Troy, the husband, blunders into the proceedings and takes his life. We then see the scene over and over from the different perspectives of Scarlett, Gloria, Monica, and Kim. From the labored plot device, the pacing of the film was slow and tedious.
The most intriguing character was Gloria, who was a good mom with solid values and a good business sense as the coal miner's daugther. She was adamant not to give the trust money to her scoundrel of a husband. There was a nice montage at the end with Gloria playing on her cello a selection from "The Barber of Seville," while we watch her handiwork replayed in the comeuppance against her three "friends" and a husband who was nothing more than a worthless bum.
In the community in which the main set of characters grew up, it was an incestuous environment. While they have stayed friends over the years, there is baggage brought along by everyone. The three best friends of Gloria, including Scarlett, Monica, and Kim, have all had some sort of illicit relationship with the gadfly Phil.
While Phil is attempting to poison Gloria and run away with any one of the three women who will accompany him, the coal miner's daughter gets wise to Phil's plan. The former cello player is no dummy, and Gloria plots revenge on the whole pack of them.
As opposed to a linear narrative, there was a meandering flow to the film that juggled the past and the present. The filmmakers became overly cute in repeating in flashback the opening scene in which Scarlett in throwing a gala celebration in honor of her divorce from her husband. Troy, the husband, blunders into the proceedings and takes his life. We then see the scene over and over from the different perspectives of Scarlett, Gloria, Monica, and Kim. From the labored plot device, the pacing of the film was slow and tedious.
The most intriguing character was Gloria, who was a good mom with solid values and a good business sense as the coal miner's daugther. She was adamant not to give the trust money to her scoundrel of a husband. There was a nice montage at the end with Gloria playing on her cello a selection from "The Barber of Seville," while we watch her handiwork replayed in the comeuppance against her three "friends" and a husband who was nothing more than a worthless bum.