The Evening Star

More than a decade after the lachrymose triumph of TERMS OF ENDEARMENT -- a resolutely old-fashioned melodrama about the tempestuous mother-daughter relationship between strong-willed Texas belles Aurora and Emma Greenway (Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger) -- the sequel has arrived, trailing a cloud of nostalgic sentiment just in time for the holidays. Clumsily condensed from Larry McMurtry's sprawling novel and weighed down by its huge cast, this shameless, shapeless soap opera meanders from hissy fit to snippy sulk, sketching characters and relationships far too broadly to make the average viewer care about their petty troubles. MacLaine's Aurora is a classic sa...