Miss Firecracker

What finally makes Miss Firecracker special is that it is not about who wins the contest, but about how all beauty contests are about the need to be loved and about how silly a beauty contest can seem if somebody really loves you. Read full review

In portraits bursting with the magic and eccentricities of the same Southern literary tradition that gave us William Faulkner, Harper Lee and Tennesee Williams, Henley has created memorable and rich characters. These are real people, not Hollywood plastics. Read full review

Miss Firecracker is a spirited lark that happily survives most missteps; it’s shot through with enchantment. Read full review

At its weakest, Miss Firecracker seems as calculated as Henley's co-scripted True Stories; laughs, though, are a great equalizer. Director Thomas Schlamme's outdoor location work gives an extra boost in the final (and superior) third - enough to give this oddity snap, crackle and pop, if not quite the ultimate ka-bam. [28 Apr 1989, p.4D]

Despite touches of enforced eccentricity, the story is redeemed by its observation of bittersweet relationships and self-deceptions. Read full review

Putting the show over with a bang is Hunter, the epitome of energy in a tailormade feisty role. She very accurately judges the line between high and low camp in her climactic tapdance for the talent contest, entertaining but just klutzy enough to be authentic. Read full review

A play based on the most delicately nuanced interactions inevitably loses electricity as a movie. Worse, it becomes predictable. [28 Apr 1989, p.L]

The movie definitely belongs to the hyper-kinetic Hunter, who originated the role of Carnelle on stage. Still, no matter how many cartwheels or rifle twirls she gives us, Miss Firecracker never becomes more than a pleasant flash. [12 May 1989, p.5]

It’s a low-budget production with major-league acting by Mary Steenburgen, Holly Hunter and Alfre Woodard. It’s not directed sharply enough; Thomas Schlamme is particularly weak on the fight scenes. Read full review

Highly amusing and well paced, an engaging fairy-tale with a slightly sinister underbelly. Read full review

Ultimately, there's not enough genuine wildness to these dark, passionate and half-crazy people. Miss Firecracker is the South made cute. Read full review

The movie is never plain boring, but its comic pathos and Southern-gothic cuteness can grate on you.

Hasn't the South as a cornucopia of Lovable Eccentrics worn out its welcome? After Tennessee Williams? After Carson McCullers? After -- what, you say your appetite for L.E.'s is insatiable? Then Miss Firecracker, which Beth Henley has adapted from her 1984 play, is your heaping platter of that delicacy. [01 May 1989, p.75]

The film seems thin, a set of vignettes about a fairly consistent set of characters. -- but only fairly consistent. [17 May 1989, p.B05]

There is a sweet gentility about Beth Henley's work as a playwright and a screenwriter, even though her best efforts stumble badly when they move from stage to screen. [16 May 1989, p.1D]

Director Thomas Schlamme's unsure handling of scenes and indiscriminate use of unappealing close-ups of actors emoting at full steam only emphasize the material's weakness. Read full review

Miss Firecracker is a movie that tries too hard. You want to like it, but in the end it just tires you out. Read full review

A superficial and sporadically witty piece aimed at such easy targets as family squabbles, small-town folk and beauty contests. The film is not actively awful; just dull and banal. [28 Apr 1989, p.C12]