Heart of Dixie (1989)

Director:

Martin Davidson

Writers (WGA):

Anne Rivers Siddons (novel)
Tom McCown (screenplay)

Release Date:

25 August 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Three young sorority women try to find love with potential men, while worrying about changes in their way of life when integration begins at their college in 1957 segregated Mississippi.

Plot Keywords:

Elvis Presley | Race Relations | Elvis | Fraternity | Alabama

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Ally Sheedy	...	Maggie DeLoach
Virginia Madsen	...	Delia June Curry
Phoebe Cates	...	Aiken Reed
Treat Williams	...	Hoyt Cunningham
Don Michael Paul	...	Boots Claibourne
Kyle Secor	...	Charles Payton 'Tuck' Tucker
Francesca Roberts	...	Keefi
Peter Berg	...	Jenks
Jenny Robertson	...	Sister
Lisa Zane	...	M.A.
Ashley Gardner	...	Jean
Kurtwood Smith	...	Professor Flournoy
Richard Bradford	...	Judge Claibourne
Barbara Babcock	...	Coralee Claibourne
Hazen Gifford	...	Dean Howard

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:PG | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Arkansas, USA

Soundtrack:

Willie and the Hand Jive

Lightweight but earnest social-consciousness fare, bears viewing.

THE HEART OF DIXIE has been called lightweight social-consciousness fare. I would have to agree. If you know anything about the American civil rights movement you will not learn anything new from this movie. Nor will you meet any of the movement's historical figures. This film is not so much about the fight for equality as about the awakening of a new social consciousness in the South. The acting is solid (if melodramatic at times), and the film gives a glimpse of 1950's segregation and the lingering rigid social order of the Old South. A few scenes might be disturbing or offensive to some, but they don't strike me as being out of keeping with the setting and characters. Ally Sheedy is likeable as a southern everygirl journalism student who takes up the civil rights cause after coming face-to-face with the brutality of segregation. Virginia Madsen is believable as a traditional southern vamp, as is Treat Williams as Sheedy's photojournalist mentor. The remaining supporting cast is also credible as an assortment of good ol' boys, aristocrats, southern belles, and black laborers. I was greatly disappointed to find that Phoebe Cates plays only a minor role despite receiving 3rd billing. She is so appealing as outspoken, optimistic, free-spirited rebel Aiken Reed that you have to wonder why her character wasn't put to better use. As it is, she serves primarily as the symbol of a new southern womanhood, eager to throw off the societal mores that have held her back and yearning to come into her own.

There are certainly more powerful and compelling movies about the civil rights movement. Still, THE HEART OF DIXIE is an earnest little film that that bears viewing.