Taglines: Meg just left one. Lenny never had one. Babe just shot one. The MaGrath sisters sure have a way with men!
Crimes of the Heart movie storyline. When they were children, the now adult Magrath sisters moved to Hazelhurst, Mississippi to live with their grandparents after their father abandoned the family. Their mother subsequently hung herself and that darned yellow cat in the basement, the incident making the national headlines, leaving the girls under the care of their grandparents. Lenny Magrath, the oldest, still lives in the house taking care of ailing Granddaddy, the house which is next door to that of their first cousin, stuck up Chick Boyle, who seems to think the scandal of the suicide affected her socially more than anyone else.
A frumpy spinster with little experience with men, Lenny is largely the forgotten or ignored one. Meg Magrath, the middle sibling, is the narcissistic wild child, who left for Hollywood to pursue a singing career, which is not going as well as she would like those at home to think. Growing up, she generally got what she wanted as the extroverted one and arguably because she was the one who found Momma in the basement. “Who” she wanted was Doc Porter, who now walks with a limp due to an incident with Meg but Doc who would probably come running back to her if she returned despite being married.
Becky Magrath – Babe in more casual circumstances – is the youngest. She married at eighteen to now lawyer and state senator Zackery Botrelle, and being taken care of all her life has led to her being like a big kid. Despite Meg being the one who found Momma, Babe is the one who thinks about the why behind Momma’s suicide the most.
Meg is called back to Hazelhurst upon the news that Babe shot Zackery, he recovering in the hospital from the stomach wound. Babe doesn’t deny shooting him – she actually aiming for his heart – although she refuses to tell anyone, including her young lawyer, Barnette Lloyd, why she did it. In not only dealing with Babe’s situation but also their individual issues, the dynamic between the very different but still loving sisters plays into what happens.
Crimes of the Heart is a 1986 American southern gothic comedy-drama film directed by Bruce Beresford. The screenplay by Beth Henley is adapted from her Pulitzer Prize-winning 1979 play of the same name.
The film opened on 246 screens in the US and earned $1,402,921 on its opening weekend. It eventually grossed $22,905,522 in the United States and Canada. The film was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy but lost to Hannah and Her Sisters.
Sissy Spacek was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and was named Best Actress by the Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards and the New York Film Critics Circle. Tess Harper was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and Beth Henley was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Crimes of the Heart (1986)
Directed by: Bruce Beresford
Starring: Diane Keaton, Jessica Lange, Sissy Spacek, Sam Shepard, Tess Harper, David Carpenter, Hurd Hatfield, Natalie Anderson, Jessica Ezzell, Beeson Carroll, Tom Mason, Annie McKnight
Screenplay by: Beth Henley
Production Design by: Ken Adam
Cinematography by: Dante Spinotti
Film Editing by: Anne Goursaud
Costume Design by: Albert Wolsky
Set Decoration by: Garrett Lewis
Art Direction by: Ferdinando Giovannoni
Music by: Georges Delerue
MPAA Rating: PG-13 For adult situations, language, nudity.
Distributed by: De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
Release Date: December 12, 1986
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