<Tr> <Td> Daniel Camp </Td> <Td> Jackson Latcherie, Jr. (3 years old) </Td> <Td> Jackson and Shelby Latcherie's son; Drum and M'Lynn Eatenton's maternal grandson; Jonathan and Tommy Eatenton's maternal nephew </Td> </Tr> <P> The original play described the experience of the family and friends of the play's author Harling following the 1985 death of his sister from diabetic complications after the birth of his namesake nephew and failure of a family member's donated kidney . A writer friend continuously encouraged him to write it down in order to come to terms with the experience . He did but originally as a short story for his nephew then later to get an understanding of the deceased mother . It evolved in ten days into the play . </P> <P> Released by TriStar Pictures in the United States on November 15, 1989 and grossed more than $83.7 million at the box office . Harling's first produced screenplay, he adapted the original film script which was then heavily rewritten beyond the on - stage one - set scenario (which had taken place entirely in Truvy's beauty salon) of the stage production: the scenes increased and the sequence was more tightly linked with major holidays than the play; the increased characters beyond the original, all - female play cast caused dialogue changes between on - screen characters (among them, Harling playing the preacher and Truvy has one son instead of two). Natchitoches, Louisiana served as both the 1989 film location and scenario location with historian Robert DeBlieux, a former Natchitoches mayor, as the local advisor . </P> <P> It received generally positive reviews from critics and has a score of 69% on Rotten Tomatoes . An example of a less enthusiastic critic was Hal Hinson of The Washington Post, who said that it felt "more Hollywood than the South ." An example of a more enthusiastic critic was Roger Ebert, who said that the film was "willing to sacrifice its over-all impact for individual moments of humor, and while that leaves us without much to take home, you've got to hand it to them: The moments work ." </P>

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