Sordid Lives
A 2000 independent film

 

Sordid Lives was a 2000 independent film, written and directed by Del Shores. The movie is based on Shores' play of the same name and includes elements of his life, according to the director's DVD commentary. This was the movie's official website.
Content is from outside sources.

Rating: R (for sexual content, nudity and language)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Directed By: Del Shores
Written By: Del Shores
In Theaters: Jan 1, 2000  Wide
On Disc/Streaming: Mar 18, 2003
Runtime: 111 minutes
Studio: Regent Entertainment

Sordid Lives" is about a family in a small Texas town preparing for the funeral of the mother. Among the characters are the grandson trying to find his identity in West Hollywood, the son who has spent the past twenty-three years dressed as Tammy Wynette, the sister and her best friend (who live in delightfully kitschy homes), and the two daughters (one strait-laced and one quite a bit looser).

 



In this cult classic comedy from writer-director Del Shores, a gay West Hollywood actor returns home to his small Texas town for his grandmother’s funeral. As we meet the three generations of his dysfunctional family, the hilariously trashy truth of their “sordid lives” is revealed. Sordid Lives features an all-star ensemble cast, including Olivia Newton-John (Grease), Delta Burke (TV’s “Designing Women”), Bonnie Bedelia (TV’s “Parenthood”), Beau Bridges (TV’s “Masters of Sex”) and Leslie Jordan (The Help) as the Tammy Wynette-obsessed institutionalized gay uncle, Brother Boy. The soundtrack features such country standards as “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” “Stand by Your Man,” and “Get off the Cross, We Need the Wood.”

 

SORDID LIVES | REVIEWS

 

TV Guide

** / 5 Reviewed by Maitland McDonagh

Stagy and coarse, this big ol' Southern-fried mess of strenuous eccentricity involves a Texas family whose skeleton-filled closets are ripped open when the clan gathers for the funeral of matriarch Peggy Ingram (Gloria LeRoy). Peggy's daughters are easy-going, good-time gal LaVonda (Ann Walker) and uptight Lattrelle (Bonnie Bedelia), who's mortified that mama not only had the bad taste to die in a sleazy motel room after tripping over her lover's wooden legs, but had become best friends with honky-tonk honey Bitsy Mae Harling (Olivia Newton-John), a lesbian ex-con who strums a mean guitar. Lattrelle and LaVonda butt big-haired heads most vigorously over the fate of their younger brother, "Brother Boy" Earl (Leslie Jordan), a gay transvestite with a serious Tammy Wynette fixation, whom their mother institutionalized 23 years earlier. LaVonda wants to bring him home, while Lattrelle would prefer he remain out of sight and out of mind. Though she'd never admit it, Lattrelle's determination to keep Brother Boy in the closet may be related to the homosexuality of only son, Ty (Kirk Geiger), an LA-based, former soap star.

LaVonda, meanwhile, must patch things up with her best friend Noleta (Delta Burke), whose husband, G.W. (Beau Bridges), was the wooden-legged lover in the motel room with mama.

Much of the colorful confrontation takes place in the home of LaVonda and Lattrelle's good-hearted aunt, Sissy (Beth Grant), who's trying to quit smoking but is driven back to butts by the incessant bickering.

Playwright-turned-director Del Shores seems to specialize in tales of squabbling siblings coming home to Texas for family funerals — he also scripted DADDY'S DYIN'...WHO'S GOT THE WILL? — and his endlessly game cast tries its damnedest to make the cliched gags about self-delusion, tacky décor and hair teased to a fare-the-well seem fresh and even insightful. But they're undermined by Shores' vulgar script, adapted from his own play, and the film's flat, over-lit look (it was shot on high definition digital video) only heightens the resemblance to a low-brow TV sitcom.

 

 

SORDID LIVES
REGENT RELEASING | RELEASE DATE: MAY 11, 2001
Meta Critic Meta Score 47
Summary: Sometimes it takes a death to bring a family together. In the film Sordid Lives, an all-star cast puts a comedic twist on a story of unconditional love, acceptance and "coming out" in a Texas family. (Regent Entertainment)

10/ 10 LexingtonD
Jul 6, 2007
No exaggerations. No pimping. "Sordid Lives" is likely the funniest movie in existence. Too hard to swallow that information? Then it's the best black comedy ever, bar none. Much like the other raters here, I have no idea what film the critics saw, because what I saw was a clever portrayal of difficult characters, who in the hands of a less capable team would come off as clichés or camp. I think the hidden strength of the film is in its believability, which comes ironically after a hyperbolic death. Every performance is perfect, even a jilted actress who would otherwise be wasted (or end up on the cutting room floor) is taken to the brink of psychotic without quite jumping off - an ideal portrait of unrequited love. By the way, I'm neither southern nor gay, nor have been any of the people who i have exposed to this movie, and it's 10s all around. I was lucky enough to find this in a dollar bin of used VHS, had a dollar, and had read this on a list of the 10 best black comedies of all time. What the review didn't say is that it is THE best. I plan on buying the DVD soon, because we're going to wear out the tape!

 

Meta: Critic Reviews
63/ 100 Chicago Tribune - Robert K. Elder
A train wreck you can't help but watch.

63/ 100 Boston Globe - Jay Carr
It's heady in the beginning, chaotic throughout, and numb with the suddenness of the Internet economy's plummet at the end.

60/ 100 Variety - Ken Eisner
When Sordid Lives does what it does best -- showing Southern gals in the full flight of rabid self-denial -- it's as screamingly funny as this subgenre can get.

50/ 100 L.A. Weekly - F. X. Feeney
Some of the performances are remarkably natural amid so much farce.
40/ 100

Los Angeles Times - Kevin Thomas
Has its moments here and there, but not nearly enough of them to add up to a satisfying movie.

30/ 100 Chicago Reader - Ted Shen
To call this campy would be charitable.

25 / 100 San Francisco Chronicle - Wesley Morris
The laughs come in all the wrong places when they come at all.

 

 

Standing By Those Sordid Lives
by Scott Holleran

Watching writer and director Del Shores's Bible Belt parody, Sordid Lives, is like driving through the boondocks, finding only honky tonk radio and listening to one of those raunchy tunes; it's weird, it's funny and you find yourself humming along.

Based on the Shores play of the same name, Sordid Lives sounds like a typical gay-themed movie—and a very bad one at that: an old woman's funeral brings a small Texas town to its knees, as the town's characters rehash their trashy lives one by one, including a man with wooden legs, a tattooed barfly, a transvestite in an insane asylum and more two-timing than the Texas two-step.

Given the plot, one might expect a freak show. Not so with these sordid lives. Writer Del Shores knows how to weave his satire with skillfully subtle touches of humanity. The result is a rollicking good time.

Though it's safe to say those laughing loudest are probably from the Bible Belt, grew up gay or have a pair of nylons tucked into their drawer between their boxers and briefs, people on Main Street are more likely to belly laugh than those on Castro Street. The crafty, if bawdy, humor pokes fun at everyone, including gays, which may be why Sordid Lives has hardly been a huge hit among those whose possessions are plastered with pink triangles.

The laughs begin slowly, as Sissy, (a scene-stealing Beth Grant), is talking on the phone about her recently departed mother, who died after tripping over the wooden legs of her married lover (Beau Bridges). The family is in serious disrepute—and Sissy's moralistic sister, Latrelle (Bonnie Bedelia in her best role since Presumed Innocent) is filled with shame. Another sister, bosomy LaVonda, (Ann Walker), who relishes the salacious nature of her mother's death, baits prissy Latrelle with sore family subjects.

Twin family wounds form the film's lightweight theme: that being a good person means doing one's best under the circumstances. One sore point: the women's other sibling—a shameful secret named Earl "Brother Boy" Ingram, (Leslie Jordan, performing flawlessly). Brother Boy is a tattered, old drag queen who plays Tammy Wynette like he's on Broadway. Just as the community is divided, the family in the film grapples with accepting Brother Boy for who he truly is. And then, Brother Boy's stuck in an asylum—Shores never suggests that his transvestitism is normal—with a shrink (Rosemary Alexander) whose career depends on turning him straight. The implausible therapy sessions provide the funniest moments.

The other sore point frames the narrative. Deeply religious Latrelle's son, Ty, (Kirk Geiger), an actor who is gay, struggles with his strict upbringing, though a gay play his mother detests is truly rotten. There are more subplots in Sordid Livesthan an episode of "Dynasty", including Delta Burke's wronged Noleta, Newell Alexander's bartender Wardell, and the perfect thread for Sordid Lives: Olivia Newton-John (Grease), strumming her guitar as a butch barfly named Bitsy Mae Harling.

Bitsy Mae sings the catchy title track and several other songs and gum snapping Newton-John manages to pull off the twangy ex-convict as someone Sandy from Grease might have become after she donned those skintight black pants.

By the time Newton-John sings her last note—and fans will want to hang around for the credits—people are better than one might expect and the most tired cliches manage to ring true amid the peculiar lives. The ending falls flat but it doesn't really matter: everyone gets what they deserve.

Sordid Lives is trailer trash supreme—it is destined to become a cult favorite—and, though it's been said before and with a lot less hair, these simple lessons with Texas trimmings make for a foot-stomping good time.

Despite campy performances, low production values, and enough hamming it up for a Joan Crawford film festival, something intelligible—and, ultimately, likable—comes through: that even the most sordid life can be lived honorably, and, in any case, it's better than the alternative.

DVD Notes
Mary Kay Place, Mary Steenburgen, the late country singer Tammy Wynette—each were supposed to (and did not) participate in this cult favorite, according to information on the generously equipped DVD. Creator Del Shores, taking rightful ownership of what's clearly a labor of love, makes the story of getting this made for under $500,000 interesting. Included are two of Olivia's uncut gospel songs, interviews with most of the cast and a commentary with Shores, Bedelia and many others in which everyone has a blast. Best bit: a 15-minute feature with Shores and producer Sharyn Lane, side by side, talking about rejection, missed festivals and their resolve to make a movie.

Letterboxd Reviews

Sordid Lives 2001 Directed by Del Shores
A BLACK COMEDY ABOUT WHITE TRASH.
“Sordid Lives” is about a family in a small Texas town preparing for the funeral of the mother. Among the characters are the grandson trying to find his identity in West Hollywood, the son who has spent the past twenty-three years dressed as Tammy Wynette, the sister and her best friend (who live in delightfully kitschy homes), and the two daughters (one strait-laced and one quite a bit looser).

**** Review by Jacob Wilson
What a weird film. Shot like a soap opera, where white trash people are both the butt of the joke and the the stars of an emotional, but darkly comedic film. I don't know what to think, but I know I enjoyed it.

+++

**** Review by Za
This is pretty much John Waters Lite. I absolutely loved this campy delight with all sorts of perfect characters that I myself would come up with. Absolutely perfection. Also, very Texan. Texans area a hilarious trope.

The only problem I had was the resolution between the mom and son because that felt very Hallmark movie resolution-like.

 

 

RottenTomatoes

TOMATOMETER: Critics 37% | Audience 85%

The bizarre death of Peggy Ingraham, the matriarch of a working-class Texas family, sets off fireworks within her dysfunctional family. Her determinedly proper daughter Latrelle is in denial over the fact that her son Ty, an actor trying to make it in Hollywood, is gay, and is relieved that her only brother, a gay drag queen and dedicated Tammy Wynette impersonator, has been confined to a mental institution for 23 years simply because he is gay. Latrelle's brassy sister LaVonda, however, thinks her brother should be released from the institution and has a perfect right to attend their mother's funeral. Meanwhile, Ty, who has strived hard to accept his homosexuality, realizes that there is no way he can return home for his grandmother's funeral without coming out to his mother.

Rotten Tomatoes Critics Reveiws

 

July 20, 2002 | Rating: 2.5/4
Robert K. Elder Chicago Tribune Top Critic
A train wreck you can't help but watch.

+++

June 28, 2002 | Rating: 2/4
Erin Meister  Boston Globe  Top Critic
While the film at times feels like a clumsily acted play, a surprising turn by Delta Burke carries the cast out of the doldrums of an often-strained plot line

+++

June 15, 2001
Wesley Morris San Francisco Chronicle Top Critic

Comedy. Starring Bonnie Bedelia, Delta Burke, Beau Bridges and Olivia Newton-John. Written and directed by Del Shores. (Not rated. 97 minutes. At the Opera Plaza.)

 

Olivia Newton-John is the first thing writer-director Del Shores' camera sees in "Sordid Lives," and you're taken aback. Why Olivia? Why now? Why that many earrings riding up her ear? Why is she singing this "9-to-5"-ish song? Why this movie? Why that accent? Why is she shot from such a low, strangely lit angle?

As it turns out, Newton-John is merely the chorus in this family tragedy. She's that special place to which the film retreats when it forgets that the lives under consideration are truly sordid. Lest you forget: Shores sees to it that behind each member of his menagerie of Southern grotesques is an assortment of embarrassments.

The movie opens not long after a woman named Peggy dies after she trips over a pair of wooden legs on the way to the bathroom. They belong to G.W. (Beau Bridges), the younger married man with whom she was having an affair. G. W.'s wife (Delta Burke) -- aided by her pal La Vonda (Ann Walker), the daughter of the deceased -- decides to pull a "Thelma and Louise" on G.W. and his friends, one of whom is responsible for La Vonda's outre, drag-obsessed sibling Brother Boy's (Leslie Jordan) stay in a mental facility.

The girls must not have seen the whole movie because nobody drives off a cliff in "Sordid Lives." This means scenes too numerous for comfort starring Brother vamping in Tammy Wynette gear locked in a therapy session with a shrink (Rosemary Alexander) desperate to de-gay him.

More or less in the same jam is Brother's actor nephew Ty (Kirk Geiger), who's telling a therapist he's finally ready to tell his high-strung mama (a keyed-up Bonnie Bedelia) that he too is gay.

The transfer from digital video to 35mm lends the film the vaguely underwater look of a sunken sitcom. Shores never solves his Newton-John problems -- he never solves any problem, really. Such as: how Beth Grant's performance as the dead lady's sister manages to elude the twangy histrionics and suggest the Robert Altman remix of a Beth Henley play that Shores appears to be after.

She's not good so much as guileless, conjuring images of beer cozies and plastic-covered sofas, going so far as to make you wish for a "Mama's Family"- level spin-off. Otherwise, the laughs come in all the wrong places when they come at all. Shores took all this from his play, which on the stage must have been like catching a taping of the Springer show on a stupendously off day.

Advisory: This film contains strong language and violence.
-- Wesley Morris

+++

September 28, 2001
Moira MacDonald Seattle Times Top Critic
There's a genuine sweetness and familial affection that shines through Sordid Lives, and enough oddball humor to keep it mooo-ving along.

 

+++

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Reviews

**** ½ Matt H July 24, 2007
Some of the scenes with Ty in the shrink's office are a little slow, but otherwise, this is one of the funniest comedies I've ever seen! It's just so off-the-wall at times! It definitely is geared towards a niche audience, and I'm glad I fit into that niche!

+++

 

**** Private U July 22, 2007
I thought this was a sad movie the first time I saw it. The second time I saw it, I laughed my ass off. This is my family to a T...

+++

 

***** Private U July 22, 2007
Campy, crass, and hysterical!! Anytime I need a laugh, this is the movie to watch.

+++

 

***** Eric M July 21, 2007
This was so perfectly over the top. What was sad is this was my family. Exactly how they would act and have acted like.

+++

 

**** ½ Private U July 18, 2007
This movie is hilarious!!

+++

 

***** Lance H July 13, 2007
this shit is one of the funniest and most quotable movies i've ever seen! I mean you turn the light on when you go to the bathroom! You have got to be more careful... of course this is useless information for you now.

+++

***** Private U July 13, 2007
If you've got a taste for big hair, broad Texas accents, and gay rights, this mixture of white-trash... STOP RIGHT THERE.
This movie was classed as a flop, I found it at a DVD store cheap as read the synopsis and thought, could be interesting.
Was brilliant! Its pack with laughter and twists and thus has become one of my fav flicks! MUST SEE!

+++

 

***** Bryan P July 12, 2007
HAHA! another one to watch you guys!

+++

 

* ½ dcolegrove Sunshine s  July 2, 2007
If you've got a taste for big hair, broad Texas accents, and gay rights, this mixture of white-trash comedy and coming-out melodrama is for you. Sordid Lives starts out as chicken-fried farce, as a funeral is prepared for a woman who died w...

+++

 

Private U June 29, 2007
This is a must for all southerners!

+++

 

***** Craig S June 29, 2007
This Movie is sooo funny and thankyou Stephen for introducing me to it
It Started off as a stage play and has me in hysterics everytime I watch it

+++

 

*** Private U June 25, 2007
Wow...it's pretty damn funny, and in many ways, so true! You've got to be open-minded to enjoy this, but if you are, it's great!

+++

 

 ***** Private U June 24, 2007
Absolutely hilarious... holds true to most Southern-isms despite the fact that Texas is only Southern by association on a map

+++

***** Mark H June 24, 2007
Sadly (or not), this is more like my hometown than it is like a made-up movie.

 

More Background On SordidLives-TheMovie.com

 

SordidLives-TheMovie.com functioned as the official promotional and informational website for Sordid Lives, the 2000 independent feature film written and directed by Del Shores. During its active years, the site operated as the central digital hub for the film, providing audiences, press outlets, exhibitors, and fans with authoritative information about the movie’s production, themes, cast, screenings, reviews, and cultural positioning.

Unlike contemporary studio film websites, which are often short-lived marketing tools designed for a narrow theatrical window, SordidLives-TheMovie.com evolved into a lasting archival presence. Long after the film completed its initial release cycle, the website continued to circulate online as a repository of reviews, synopses, production context, and commentary. Today, it stands as a preserved artifact of early-2000s independent cinema marketing and LGBTQ-focused storytelling on the web.

The site’s existence reflects a transitional era in film promotion, when independent filmmakers increasingly relied on dedicated domains to communicate directly with audiences outside traditional studio systems.

Ownership and Creative Control

SordidLives-TheMovie.com was owned and maintained under the authority of the film’s production and distribution interests, closely tied to creator Del Shores and the film’s releasing partners. As with many independent film websites of the era, ownership was not framed as a corporate brand in itself but as an extension of the creative project.

Del Shores, already known for his stage work and previous film writing, exercised unusually direct creative oversight of Sordid Lives. That sensibility carried into the website, which emphasized authenticity, candor, and a willingness to engage with controversy. The site reflected Shores’ refusal to sanitize the film’s themes or soften its cultural critique for mass-market palatability.

Rather than positioning the film as a prestige drama or a conventional comedy, the website embraced the film’s unapologetically niche identity—southern, queer, confrontational, and darkly comic.

Geographic and Cultural Context

Although SordidLives-TheMovie.com existed in digital space without a physical address, its cultural geography was unmistakable. The film it represented is deeply rooted in small-town Texas culture, and the website consistently reinforced that regional identity.

The narrative world of Sordid Lives draws from Texas towns shaped by conservative religion, social surveillance, and rigid gender expectations. The website leaned into this context rather than distancing itself from it, framing the film as both a satire of and a love letter to Southern dysfunction.

From a proximity standpoint, the film’s thematic lineage connects it to earlier Southern gothic traditions while situating it firmly in contemporary queer storytelling. The website acted as a bridge between these worlds, introducing audiences far beyond Texas to a cultural environment rarely depicted with such ferocity and humor.

Film Background and Narrative Overview

Sordid Lives centers on the death of a family matriarch and the ensuing collision of secrets, resentments, and long-suppressed truths within a multi-generational Texas family. The story unfolds as relatives gather for a funeral, triggering revelations involving sexuality, repression, denial, and survival.

Key narrative threads include:

  • A gay actor returning home from Los Angeles while concealing his identity from his mother

  • A brother institutionalized for decades due to his homosexuality and drag performance

  • Sisters locked in moral and emotional combat over appearances and respectability

  • Peripheral characters whose lives expose hypocrisy, cruelty, and tenderness in equal measure

SordidLives-TheMovie.com presented this narrative not as a moral lesson but as an experiential invitation. The site framed the film as an ensemble-driven character study, emphasizing that every figure—no matter how exaggerated—was grounded in recognizable human behavior.

Cast, Performances, and Star Power

One of the site’s most prominent functions was to highlight the film’s unexpectedly high-profile cast. The ensemble included performers with mainstream recognition across film, television, and music, lending credibility to what might otherwise have been dismissed as fringe cinema.

The website showcased these actors not as ironic novelties but as committed participants in a risky creative project. Emphasis was placed on performances that subverted expectations, particularly those involving gender expression, aging, and regional stereotypes.

By foregrounding cast commitment, SordidLives-TheMovie.com countered narratives that the film was merely camp or exploitation. Instead, it framed the work as a collaborative artistic effort with emotional stakes and professional seriousness.

Reviews, Reception, and Critical Division

A defining feature of SordidLives-TheMovie.com was its extensive aggregation of reviews and critical commentary. The site openly presented both praise and condemnation, reflecting the film’s polarizing impact.

Critics frequently disagreed on:

  • Whether the film’s humor reinforced stereotypes or exposed them

  • Whether its tone was compassionate or cruel

  • Whether its theatrical origins enhanced or limited its cinematic language

Audience responses, however, skewed overwhelmingly positive, particularly among viewers with lived experience of Southern family structures, queer identity, or religious repression. The website preserved these reactions as part of the film’s public record, allowing readers to witness the gap between institutional criticism and personal resonance.

This tension became central to the site’s long-term value, transforming it into a case study in how marginalized audiences often recognize truths dismissed by mainstream gatekeepers.

Awards, Festivals, and Industry Positioning

While Sordid Lives did not dominate major awards circuits, SordidLives-TheMovie.com documented its festival presence, niche screenings, and cult momentum. The site framed success not in terms of trophies but in terms of endurance and audience connection.

The website emphasized:

  • Grassroots screenings

  • Word-of-mouth expansion

  • Longevity beyond theatrical release

  • Home video circulation and rediscovery

This approach aligned with the film’s broader ethos: survival through community rather than institutional validation.

Website Design and Digital Strategy

From a technical standpoint, SordidLives-TheMovie.com reflected early-2000s web design conventions. Static HTML pages, text-heavy layouts, and minimal interactivity were standard for independent film websites at the time.

What distinguished the site was not technological sophistication but editorial density. Rather than functioning as a splash page, it acted as a living press kit, review archive, and cultural argument rolled into one.

The absence of aggressive advertising, merchandise funnels, or social media integration—features now considered essential—underscores the site’s historical significance. It represents a moment when a film’s website could serve as an enduring informational archive rather than a disposable marketing asset.

Audience and Community Impact

The primary audience for SordidLives-TheMovie.com extended well beyond casual moviegoers. The site attracted:

  • LGBTQ audiences seeking representation

  • Southern viewers recognizing familiar dynamics

  • Scholars studying camp, satire, and regional identity

  • Fans discovering the film through home media rather than theaters

For many visitors, the website functioned as validation. It confirmed that their reactions—laughter, discomfort, recognition—were shared by others. In this sense, SordidLives-TheMovie.com operated as a quiet community space before social media normalized such interaction.

Cultural and Social Significance

The lasting importance of SordidLives-TheMovie.com lies in its role as a digital witness. It documents how queer stories from conservative regions navigated public discourse at a time when mainstream acceptance was far from guaranteed.

The site preserves a moment when independent filmmakers used the internet not merely to sell tickets but to assert narrative ownership. It demonstrates how marginalized voices carved out space through persistence, provocation, and unapologetic specificity.

Today, the website serves historians, archivists, and cultural researchers as evidence of how early internet infrastructure supported alternative cinema long before streaming platforms democratized access.

Legacy and Archival Value

As an archived website, SordidLives-TheMovie.com now functions less as marketing and more as documentation. Through preserved pages and cached content, it allows contemporary audiences to reconstruct how Sordid Lives was framed, defended, and debated at the time of its release.

The site’s continued availability through archival tools reinforces its value as a cultural artifact. It offers insight into:

  • Independent film economics

  • Early LGBTQ digital advocacy

  • The aesthetics of pre-social-media web publishing

  • Audience-driven canon formation

In this capacity, SordidLives-TheMovie.com transcends its original purpose, becoming part of the broader historical record of American independent cinema.

 

SordidLives-TheMovie.com stands as more than an old film website. It is a preserved argument for the importance of uncomfortable stories, regional specificity, and creative defiance. Through its dense documentation, unapologetic tone, and long-term availability, it captures a pivotal moment when independent cinema and the early internet converged to amplify voices that might otherwise have been ignored.

For readers seeking to understand not only Sordid Lives but the ecosystem that allowed such a film to survive and endure, SordidLives-TheMovie.com remains an essential point of reference.

 

 

SordidLives-TheMovie.com