Jump to the good stuff: The Story | Some Thoughts | The Final Verdict
The Story:
Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean is a drama about a James Dead fan club reunion in a small Texas town.
On September 30, 1975, twenty years after James Dean’s death, Sissy (Cher) is in Woolworths getting ready for a reunion with members of the James Dean fan club she started with Mona (Sandy Dennis) and Joe (Mark Patton), Disciples of James Dean. As she puts up the decorations, the store manager, Juanita (Sudie Bond), is reminiscing with her about the club and working with Joe and Mona at the store.
Although Joe left town years ago, Mona is still around and should be helping Sissy with the decorations. However, her bus is running behind schedule. Stella Mae (Kathy Bates) and Edna Louise (Marta Heflin) arrive. Since Mona isn’t around, Stella Mae and Edna Louise decide to take a ride around town.
While Stella Mae and Edna Louis are out, Mona arrives. She’s upset to discover that her son, Jimmy Dean, is out instead of working at the store. Sally Mae and Edna Louise arrive, followed by a woman, Joanne (Karen Black), who drives up in a yellow Porsche. Joanne walks into the store and begins looking around. She mentions that she was a member of Disciples of James Dean, but nobody remembers her. It isn’t until Joanne points to herself in a club photo that they realize that she is transgender and that they knew her as Joe. And with that, the drama begins to play out.
Some Thoughts:
The inclusion of a transgender character in Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean was shocking for 1982. And although it’s a groundbreaking film, it’s not without issues. The two biggest being that it skims over what it means to be transgender in a small Texas town and casting a cisgender woman to play Joanne. Although Black is great in the role, having an actual transgender actress would have given the story authenticity.
For many people, this was their introduction to a transgender person, so it’s a shame that the film tiptoes around it. In doing so, it reinforces some negative misconceptions about transgender people. The biggest offender being when Joanne says that she had some regrets after her surgery, then drops the subject. Many people will assume–as do some of the characters–that she regrets having transitioned, but that most likely is not what she meant. She could have regrets about not coming out to specific people prior to surgery or perhaps not having done it sooner. However, we’ll never know because it isn’t addressed.
Although we find out that Joanne was driven out of town twenty years ago and that she did drag to make ends meet, her present employment is a mystery. It’s 1975 and she wears expensive clothes and drives a Porsche. The money she inherited from her mother could not have been enough to pay for her operations and lavish lifestyle. Something doesn’t add up.
Another problem the story has is that it never gets into Stella Mae’s animosity towards Edna Louise. It also doesn’t help that they don’t get a revealing moment until the very end, and even that doesn’t come close to explaining their relationship. And having their revelations come at the end makes it feel like they were an afterthought.
However, if you like drama, this film has plenty to go around. The backstories are entertaining, even if many of them aren’t fully realized.
The Final Verdict:
Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean works because of its stellar cast and Robert Altman’s direction. The poorly conceived script is problematic, but the performances make it worthy of your time.