Equal parts comedy and weepie, 1989’s Steel Magnolias gave audiences an early look at then-ingenue Julia Roberts, who’s memorable as a Southern belle whose impending nuptials kick-start the movie. But the real treat here is the multigenerations of grande dames orbiting her. As the matriarch with football-helmet hair, Sally Field is the film’s rock, while Olympia Dukakis and Shirley MacLaine supply zesty comic relief, and Dolly Parton (bless her dear heart forever and ever amen) transcends the broad strokes of her role – the big-hair-and-country-aphorisms of it all – to communicate something more soulful about the disappointments of middle age and a long marriage. – Kimberley Jones
