Edie & Pen

Edie & Pen 1996

• Director: Matthew Irmas
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Stockard Channing, Jennifer Tilly, Scott Glen, Stuart Wilson
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Stockard Channing – Sparkle, Out of Practice, Bright Young Things, Practical Magic, First Wives’ Club, Moll Flanders, Smoke, Six Degrees of Separation, Grease
• Jennifer Tilly – Out of Practice, The Fabulous Baker Boys, Hill Street Blues
• Scott Glen – Freedom Writers, The Painted House, Shipping News, Virgin Suicides, Carla’s Song, Silence of the Lambs, Silverado, Urban Cowboy, Apocalypse Now, Nashville
• Stuart Wilson – Hot Fuzz, 9 Lives, Death and the Maiden, I Claudius
• Why? Stockard Channing
• Seen: Once before. Now 31 May 2020      

       Penelope (Channing) and Edie (Tilly) are in Reno to get quick divorces. Pen is serious and heart-broken. Edie is a fluff-headed, innocent, wise sexpot and seemingly as happy as can be. They meet in a bar and are accosted by three obnoxious male chauvinist cowboys. One of them is Harry (Glenn) bitter and misogynist because his wife has just left him.

       Long story short. The women become friends and Harry pursues Pen. It’s all quite sad really. It could be that we’re meant to find Harry charming but to me he’s an unsavoury sleaze.

       Minus 1* for the country music (I really dislike country music), another 1 ½ * for the dog and the confederate flag. As we watch, the US is once again being torn apart by racism.

       That leaves 2 ½ * for Channing and Tilly, who are very good, and their sisterly solidarity, which is quite touching. Or let’s say 0* because of the bad stuff, quite a lot of * for the good stuff. So

2 ½ * of 5 (Hal though the good outweighed the bad and gave it 3 ½ *)