Hated It

Rating: 2/10 (29 March 2005)

Am flabbergasted that this garnered so many awards & excellent reviews. It was painful to sit through. I can only see it as a Mad Magazine satire. First the conventional "Rocky" plot ("You're too old to be a boxer." See her run on the beach & hit the bag all night.) Then a prolonged death scene. The film was packed w/ stereotypes: trailer trash, dimwitted country boy from Texas, kindly Morgan Freeman (will he ever play a scumbag?). The scene of Morgan Freeman knocking out the young buck was right out of "Cocoon".
Why would the Oakie trailer trash family need Maggie to sign away her assets? Unless she'd made a will stating otherwise all would revert to them anyway. Why wasn't Frankie arrested for murder? Why don't we see the emotional effect that killing her had on him? Is running off & eating in a diner in the Ozarks supposed to be an answer?