I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!!!  All the actresses in this movie are very familiar to me and they play their part magnificantly. Us ladies should always band together in support each other like these ladies did instead of bitching about one another. I still cannot fathom Sally Field with a sourthern accent but she does make her role believable. There is a surprise ending although it is very sad in its own way. Olympia Dukakis is exceptional in that she tries to make others laugh in a sad situation. Either way, the plot indicates that us females can and will support each other in times of every tough crisis possible. The actual author who made the play that this movie is based on also has a sad story in that the play and this movie was based on his sister's illness and ultimate death. He does appear in this movie as the pastor in the beginning of the movie when Shelby is married to Jackson; and again serves as the pastor at the cemetery. If you want to be cheered up and to be shown that life truly continues then this movie will make a whole lot happier. It does for me!  :-)