"Charms for the Easy Life" on paper sounds like a movie right up my street with it's nostalgic tale of 3 generations of women living in North Carolina. It's the sort of movie which you expect to be quirky, amusing, dramatic and even romantic in a similar style to "Fried Green Tomatoes" and even "The Secret Life of Bees". Unfortunately it doesn't quite work; it lacks that easy going flow and warmth which you expect and ends up almost disjointed as it tries to cram in a series of events in the lives of these 3 women. I am sure the book which it is adapted from has that warmth, charm and humour which is so obviously missing and I get the feeling that to turn this story into a movie of a reasonable length the pieces which string all these events together and in some places make sense of it all have had to be discarded. "Charms for the Easy Life" is still entertaining and has a certain amount of warmth but not to the extent I expected.

Charlie Kate (Gena Rowlands - Hope Floats) is the matriarch of the Birch family, 3 generations of women and a woman who does things her way. A self taught healer who treats all and sundry, Charlie Kate was married till her husband didn't return from work one day. Her daughter Sophia (Mimi Rogers - Lost in Space) seems to have inherited the same gene as her marriage was blighted by an untrustworthy man yet is still desperate to find a man. And then there is Sophia's daughter Margaret (Susan May Pratt - 10 Things I Hate About You), a shy young woman who adores Charlie Kate and follows in her footsteps as she learns about caring for the sick and injured much to Sophia's annoyance.

Now I haven't read Kaye Gibbons' novel which "Charms for the Easy Life" is adapted from but it is very obvious that to fit the story of 3 generations of women from the one family into a movie it has had to be cut down. The trouble with this is that it not only becomes disjointed but also at times confusing. Right from the start it feels like a hatchet job has been done in order to get to the point of Charlie Kate, her daughter Sophia and Granddaughter Margaret all living under the same roof and at an age where Margaret is becoming a woman. It makes it feel like it's rushing to get to the main part and those scenes which link everything together are obviously missing.

But this continues till at least the half way point where we seem to be getting snippets of storyline which don't naturally follow each other and actually end up being confusing. A prime example is a scene where having gone to the pictures to see "Gone With the Wind" Charlie Kate walks out and Margaret follows where they sit on a bench and read a book. Now there is something said about the book, something which appears like it is trying to be funny yet because there is a sudden jump from walking out of the pictures and that line it ends up not being funny. And this issue constantly creeps up as it appears only the pivotal points of the story have made it onto the screen yet those parts which make sense of it all are missing.

And to be honest it is a shame because what comes across on the screen is that "Charms for the Easy Life" is a movie which wants to be quirky, funny, charming and nostalgic as it ends up not only focusing on the relationship of these 3 generations but also the relations with the important men in their lives. As already mentioned it has that feel of "Fried Green Tomatoes" with an opening narration from Margaret which has that feel of reminiscing to a bygone age. And there are glimpses of that nostalgic charm and fun which you expect especially when it comes to Charlie Kate being a very forthright woman who doesn't suffer fools and has things her way. It is those glimpses which keep you interested because everything else which goes on ends up feeling quite flat.

As for the acting well it's solid but not that remarkable even from Gena Rowlands who as Charlie Kate is the best thing about the movie. There are times when Rowlands gets this character, the straight to the point mannerisms to work but because of what appears to be a hatchet job on the story the natural rise and fall of her character never shows itself and in the end Charlie Kate becomes quite predictable. But then the same can be said of Mimi Rogers who plays Sophia and also Susan May Pratt who plays Margaret as at times they deliver the amusement, the warmth and the charm of their characters but far too often become very ordinary.

What this all boils down to is that "Charms for the Easy Life" is not a terrible movie but lacks the flow you expect from a nostalgic tale of 3 generations of women living in North Carolina. It does have its moments and there are a few really good scenes which make you smile but it suffers because it ends up not only disjointed but also confusing as it appears to only be the pivotal bits of Kaye Gibbons' novel and lacks the bits which not only link it all together but makes sense of some of the scenes.