Members of a James Dean fan club reunite, with sad regrets and revealed truths for all. Ed Graczyk freely adapted his own play for the screen, and director Robert Altman (who also helmed the stage production) utilized the intentional phoniness of Garczyk's conception for a blurry-soft, dreamy effect. This interesting technique, coupled with fine key performances, makes the film worth-watching, though it does drag on too long and goes dangerously over-the-top whenever Kathy Bates is center-stage playing a bossy shrew. Sandy Dennis, as Dean-worshipper Mona, never quite deviated from her stammering performance in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"; once again, she affects a fluttery, unsure way of addressing people (she's sincere, yet her mind is cluttered up with extraneous thoughts--like a happy schizophrenic). Cher, playing a deflated sexpot, has the least convincing role, but she's game and has a wonderful moment imitating Dennis. Karen Black's mysterious Joanne is the catalyst behind all the sturm and drang; viewed today, the role is a wheeze, yet Black--wry and funny and tragic--is deeply in-tune with the material and does an excellent job. As a cinematic experience, "Jimmy Dean" is bereft of exhilarating highs, and the dreamy quality actually works against it in some instances (it feels like sensory deprivation). However, the film does have intense moments, always underlined by a sense of nostalgia, and it's that sweet feeling of melancholy that puts the movie across. **1/2 from ****

This is a set-bound independent film deals with a small assortment of characters who assemble at the small title store in a nowhere, dusty Texas town. Some work at the store, and some have moved out of town, but they are reuniting on the 20th anniversary of James Dean's death. It seems GIANT was filmed nearby 20 years earlier, and one of their own even appeared as an extra in the film. Some have moved on since then, others haven't. And some have changed completely. I won't go further into the developments, as learning who is who and what is what is part of the film's journey.

Robert Altman directed this, both on the stage and then on film, and it's more interesting than I expected. I've never been a fan of Sandy Dennis or Karen Black, and so I've never gone out of my way to see this again after I saw it the first time. I am, however, a fan of Robert Altman. Altman has always been known for his great rapport with his actresses, and that quality serves him and his cast admirably in this. These are interesting, fully-fleshed out women, and the voices are very genuine. Sandy Dennis plays a variation of her usual emotionally fragile screen persona, but Altman manages to rein in her histrionic tendencies. Karen Black is much better than usual, in an unusual, but subtle performance. Cher famously made her first serious foray into dramatic acting here, and she's tough and terrific. A young and fiery Kathy Bates is also memorable. Stage veteran Sudie Bond rounds out the main cast.

I saw this earlier this year on TCM, and for the first time years ago on Showtime. I am always fascinated about the places where movies are filmed on location, and Giant is my favorite of James Dean's movies. It is easy to see when watching the movie that it is based upon a play with one set, but that doesn't detract from it. Even though the introduction warned about flashbacks, I wasn't aware just how quickly the movie would go between the present day of the story and two decades before. That meant I was confused for the first 15 minutes or so, so don't be surprised if you are too. Then I realized what was happening and stopped worrying about what time frame it was at any given moment. Rewatching it, having an idea about what is going on, did make it more enjoyable for me. Recommended.

One of Robert Altman's lesser known movies looks at a group of James Dean disciples getting back together on the twentieth anniversary of Dean's death. "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean" very much has the feeling of a play, as the whole thing takes place in one enclosed location (a Woolworth's five & dime store). I notice that a major theme is gender roles in the small Texas town where they live: the women are have always been forced to suppress their emotions, while the effeminate man is not accepted at all.

A common trait of Altman's movies is that many people are talking at once. That's the case here, but it's accentuated by the mirrors, which show what happened twenty years earlier while "Giant" was getting filmed not far from the town. I guess that in the end, the movie deals with nostalgia and how realistically we view the past. I was born long after the '50s, so even though I can watch the movies and listen to the music, I can never fully understand what it was like to experience these things for the first time. Does this count as authentic nostalgia?

I'd say that the movie is worth seeing. It's not Altman's best movie by any stretch, but I think that it had very good character development. Starring Sandy Dennis, Cher, Karen Black and Kathy Bates.