Somewhere between identifiable conventionalism and unconventional realism is the emotional tone that encompasses The Loss of a Tear Drop Diamond. It is sort of contrived but not too incredible and surprisingly heart warming. Although at times it can be equally heart chilling. Either way, you enjoy the feeling, without loving the movie, but it makes it a descent watch.

We are introduced to Fisher: the spoiled, self-obsessed daughter of a rich plantation owner, who is locally disliked. Fisher herself is not fond of the community but she attends parties whenever she can. She is is in search of a new escort, so she turns to Jimmy, the son of Tennessee's former governor. A poor boy who looks after his drunk father and sick mother, while Fishers only concern is to make sure she looks good with a man by her side.

We come two expect two things at this point: One, Fisher as a character will grow up, and get a heart, and two, she and Jimmy will fall in love. By the end, it does happen, but not in the spectacular fashion one might expect. Indeed one good quality The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond is that it is not predictable. This is not the product of a conventional writer or a studio voice, it is the product of Tennesse William's one of America's great play writes, whose script for this must have been shelved for decades collecting dust before it was embraced. Now it feels fresh as ever.

The movie is not so much driven by plot as much as it is by a movie stealing, fiery performance from Bryce Dallas Howard. She pulls the strings of the audience as well as any good director can. We hate her when we are supposed to hate her, and we love her when we are supposed to lover her. She also does a sensational job of acting with her face, which brings me to another effective quality of the movie. It is beautiful, rich and luscious, with every shot dressed up nicely. Even the diamonds on Fisher's dress sparkle so brilliantly, you might find yourself flirting with the question of whether any digital effects were used. I've certainly never seen a sunrise as golden as it does here.

If there is a problem with the movie, it needs a little more time to invest in characters outside of Fisher. As a romance, the movie is questionable, not so much because of cheap filmaking, but because of a deliberate decision to keep things a bit distant. In fact, The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond when all is said and done, is more of a drama than a romance, like William's masterpiece A Street Car Named Desire.

This one has a far happier outcome than Street Car, and I will be among the few to say it but, I found it more agreeable. The Loss of A Tear Drop Diamond is crafted nicely, with a little room for improvement, but it is easily recommendable. It is strangely delightful.

It's 1923 Mississippi. A blown dam upriver kills several people and causes extensive damage. Fisher Willow (Bryce Dallas Howard) returns to Memphis from Europe to find her father much hated for that selfish act to save his own property. She's sassy, self-obsessed, and has no one to take to come out to Memphis society. She decides to clean up longtime workhand Jimmy Dobyne (Chris Evans) to accompany her. He's a grandson to a former governor although his father (Will Patton) is a drunk and his mother is in an asylum. She borrows family heirloom diamond earrings from her aunt. She is ostracized at the party. Only her friend Julie (Mamie Gummer) invites her to a Halloween party. Fisher loses an earring on the walk up to Julie's party. Julie's cousin Vinnie (Jessica Collins) takes an immediate dislike to Fisher and a liking to Jimmy. Julie's aunt Miss Addie (Ellen Burstyn) is bedridden from her opium use in Hong Kong.

Everybody is acting bad which is fine but nobody is doing it convincingly. It's a long forgotten Tennessee Williams script and I'm not sure if it shouldn't stay that way. At least, this production does nothing to enhance it. I can overlook Howard's overacting because her character is overacting. On the other hand, I don't get Jimmy's harsh understanding of Fisher's question. It comes out of nowhere and he over-reacts out of proportion. In the end, I ship Jimmy and Vinnie far more than Jimmy and Fisher. The chemistry of Jimmy-Vinnie is already good but Jimmy-Fisher has several bad starts. Not every Tennessee diamond is flawless but even in this rough one, there are moments of beauty.

LOSS OF A TEARDROP DIAMOND is a film that tries hard to be significant and important and barely keeps the viewer seated until it is over. The 'screenplay' is credited to Tennessee Williams (who has been dead since 1983),having been written in 1957, a year after 'Baby Doll', and while the screenplay may have been completed by Williams, it has obviously been 'touched up' by someone else: Williams more than likely never planned to have the work on celluloid. The cast is adequate, given the material, and the direction (Jodie Markell) is pretty shoddy. It probably would have been best to leave this 'screenplay' by one of America's greatest playwrights on the shelf.

Fisher Willlow (Bryce Dallas Howard) is from wealth in Tennessee, but her family is disliked because of a levee built by the father that ruined the hopes of farmers in the area. She is a shallow, resented, needy, attention hungry woman, unmarried and past her Southern prime, having spent her 'debut years' abroad studying in Paris (and being hospitalized in Zurich for mental illness). She returns home, fancies the hunky Jimmy Dobyne (Chris Evans) who is the grandson of the ex-mayor of the town, but who spends his time caring for this alcoholic failure of a father (Will Patton) and his institutionalized mentally ill mother (Barbara Garrick). Not having viable social connections, Fisher invites Jimmy to be her social escort, buys him tuxedos and clothes to make him look like a wealthy suitor, borrows the family teardrop diamond earrings from Cornelia (Ann-Margaret),and is off to a Halloween party hosted by Julie (Mamie Gummer). On the way into the party Fisher loses one of the teardrop diamonds, and flies into a panic. She is summoned upstairs by the mother of Julie - Addie (Ellen Burstyn) - who has had multiple strokes and longs to die. Knowing that Fisher is a headstrong woman, Addie convinces Fisher to 'assist' her death by handing her what amounts to be an overdose of pills. Meanwhile, downstairs, Jimmy has taken up with a guest of Julie's - Vinnie (Jessica Collins),who has a history of being a salesclerk in a drugstore thus making her not of the same echelon as the others at the party. Apparently Jimmy and Vinnie had been friends before and passion enters seemingly binding the two social misfits. But reality steps in when Fisher discovers the developments and the social rules win out. The ending is too sanguine to mention.

The elements that were the recipe for Tennessee William's highly successful plays and films are repeated here, but now we have no character with whom we can empathize: everyone is a plagiarized caricature of Williams' popular tropes. A shame.

Grady Harp