A comedy drama set in modern day Florida concerning two vibrant women who find themselves, after their big time dreams have not panned out, back in their small neighbouring hometowns. Caught between their past and their future, both are struggling to find a way to become independent women in a place where everyone and everything seems to conspire to make them return to the roles of children under the rule of formidable parents.
Marly Temple (Edie Falco) is living her father's (Ralph Waite) dream of running a motel, only it has become her nightmare. Marly has given her career as an aquatic "Weeki Wachee Mermaid" up and her marriage to Steve (Richard Edson) is over. In the next town over, Desiree Perry (Angela Bassett) has returned to visit and show off her new anaesthesiologist husband, Reggie. Sent away by her proud parents after she disgraced them by getting pregnant at 16, Desiree, like Marly, pursued a career in "show business". But instead of Broadway or movies, her appearances have been limited to industrials and infomercials.
As both Marly and Desiree grapple with the sometimes overwhelming weight of family history and family expectations, and wrestle with questions of love, duty and responsibility, the tale offers a portrait of two women, two families, and two communities standing on the brink of change.
Special Agent Matti
*
M (Adult themes, low level coarse language)
135 minutes (2:15 hours)
Film: 10 October 2002 - Sydney
DVD rental: 28 May 2003
VHS rental: 28 May 2003