Rating: PG
Genre:
Comedy Drama
Release Date: 03/04/2008
Flags: Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Adult Language
Distributor/Studio: First Look Pictures
A hot tamale tries to throw off a different sort of heat in this
comedy of small-town manners.
Carnelle Scott (
Holly Hunter) is best-known in her hometown of Yazoo City, MS, for her unrepentant promiscuity. An orphan taken in by her genteel relatives, she idolizes her older cousin,
Elain Rutledge (
Mary Streenburgen), a former Fourth of July "Miss Firecracker" contest winner who is taking time out from her life as a pampered wife in Atlanta to give a speech on "My Life as a Beauty" at this year's pageant. Determined to follow in
Elain's footsteps,
Carnelle puts a damper on her libido and enlists the help of local seamstress
Popeye Jackson (
Alfre Woodard) in preparing for the pageant. She also implores
Elain to let her borrow the red dress in which
Elain won the contest in 1972. Meanwhile,
Elain's brother, ne'er-do-well
Delmount Williams (
Tim Robbins), arrives with a get-rich-quick scheme that involves hocking the family estate. Into this mix steps
Mac Sam (
Scott Glenn), one of the men who contributed to
Carnelle's scandalous past. Adapted by
Beth Henley from her own play
The Miss Firecracker Contest,
Miss Firecracker finds
Hunter reprising her stage role. The actress also starred in
Henley's
Crimes of the Heart on Broadway, although she did not appear in the 1986 film adaptation.
Woodard and
Steenburgen previously appeared together in
Cross Creek.
Miss Firecracker was shot on-location in real-life Yazoo City.
~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
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