Six women in the American South have very different personalities, but a strong bond. Julia Roberts is about to be married at the start of the story, but I felt Sally Field, as her mother, was the real star.

Some humour, mainly from two of the women played by Shirley MacLaine and Olympa Dukakis, some light-hearted asides from the hairdresser, played by Dolly Parton, and some very serious moments too. The climax was shocking the first time I saw it, very moving on seeing it again ten years later.

Unlikely to be of interest to children though the rating is PG; 12 would be more appropriate although there's nothing explicit and not a huge amount of bad language.

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Substance: Too nitty-gritty reality for me. Just not interested in the tribulations of a bunch of Southern not-quite-belles. ( )

Julia Roberts (actor), Sally Field (actor), Dolly Parton (actor), Shirley McLane (actor), Daryl Hannah (actor), Olympia Dukakis (actor) and Herbert Ross (director)

Based on Robert Harling''s play, this comedy-drama directed by Herbert Ross (The Turning Point) follows several years in the lives of women who regularly see one another at a beauty shop in their small Louisiana town. The story deepens as Julia Roberts, playing a serious diabetic and the daughter of Sally Field, goes downhill in her health. But as an ensemble piece, this is one of those enjoyably lumpy tearjerkers with many years'' worth of stored truths suddenly being shared between the characters, lots of grievances aired, that sort of thing. Daryl Hannah and Shirley MacLaine assume the most eccentric roles, Dolly Parton the most fun, and Olympia Dukakis the most dignified, while Sally Field essentially provides the moral and emotional center of the movie. --Tom Keogh

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