Blues for Willadean

BLUES FOR WILLADEAN offers three remarkable performances in a story about an abusive husband and three women who live in a trailer park in Texas. Written and directed by Del Shores and based on his play, the plot is a mix of drama and his patented Southern comedy.

Beth Grant plays Willadean, a simple, bible-toting woman who is married to a drunken bully. He's never forgiven her for getting pregnant in high school and costing him a chance at professional football. In his mind, it was all for nothing, since his son is gay and their daughter was killed in a car crash, and now he's stuck with her. Her neighbor, LaSonia (Octavia Spencer) is a commonsense woman who tries to broach the subject of domestic violence, but Willadean will not listen. She forever regrets that she could not save her sister from domestic violence. Rayleen (Dale Dickey) is pure white trash and works as a cocktail waitress at the local bar Willadean's husband goes to. She's also sleeping with him.

The three women share stories of their lives and hopes, but of course they are all trapped in their failed lives ... and in the trailer park. The three actresses are just plain amazing. Great performances. David Steen, also very good, plays the thankless role of the bully.

The only thing I didn't like was the "blues singer" who shows up to punctuate the dramatic moments with a song. Maybe this is a remnant from the stage play but it doesn't work on film and her lip sync wasn't very good.