← Back to Reviews
in
CRY-BABY
John Waters' singularly unique directorial style, a delicious musical score, and a pair of charismatic lead performances are the primary selling points of a 1990 gem called Cry-Baby, which finds Waters offering universal yet well worn cinematic themes and dressing them up with his outrageous cinematic concepts and his bizarre rep company of actors.
The film is set in the only place and time that Waters works: 1950's Baltimore. The story is very simple: The virginal Allison-Vernon Williams (Amy Locane) finds herself drawn to Wade Walker AKA Cry-Baby. The problem is that Allison is one of the "Squares", the proper folk on the right side of the tracks, whose spiritual leader seems to be Allison's tight-assed grandmother (Polly Bergen). Cry-Baby is one of the "Drapes"
, the outrageous troublemakers led by Cry-Baby's nutty grandmother (Susan Tyrell), her common law husband (Iggy Pop), Cry-Baby's sister Pepper (Ricki Lake), a high school student and mother of two with a third on the way, and Hatchet Face (Kim McGuire). It's one side of the tracks falling in love with the other that carves out the canvas of this bizarre but entertaining musical comedy.
For the uninitiated, John Waters is another director who works way off the beaten path who loves to present bizarre stories that stretch credibility at every turn and characters that walk a fine line between funny and repellent and this film is no exception. He also likes to utilize a very select rep company of actors in his films. He is responsible for bringing the famed transvestite Divine (Pink Flamingos) to the screen and pretty much made a star out of Ricki Lake.
Waters went a step further than he usually does, making this film a musical, with a fantastic 50's styled musical score by Patrick Williams that perfectly captures the feelings of the 1950's in a way that Happy Days never did. The musical numbers are imaginatively staged and serve the story instead of slowing it down, the standout being "Please Mr. Jailer", a jazzy production number which features Locane at her steamiest. It should be mentioned that Depp and Locane do not do their own singing, but the lip synching is credibly done.
This film is not for all tastes, but if you're a fan of musicals, Depp (who is basically sex on legs here), or the director, this one will not disappoint.
John Waters' singularly unique directorial style, a delicious musical score, and a pair of charismatic lead performances are the primary selling points of a 1990 gem called Cry-Baby, which finds Waters offering universal yet well worn cinematic themes and dressing them up with his outrageous cinematic concepts and his bizarre rep company of actors.
The film is set in the only place and time that Waters works: 1950's Baltimore. The story is very simple: The virginal Allison-Vernon Williams (Amy Locane) finds herself drawn to Wade Walker AKA Cry-Baby. The problem is that Allison is one of the "Squares", the proper folk on the right side of the tracks, whose spiritual leader seems to be Allison's tight-assed grandmother (Polly Bergen). Cry-Baby is one of the "Drapes"
, the outrageous troublemakers led by Cry-Baby's nutty grandmother (Susan Tyrell), her common law husband (Iggy Pop), Cry-Baby's sister Pepper (Ricki Lake), a high school student and mother of two with a third on the way, and Hatchet Face (Kim McGuire). It's one side of the tracks falling in love with the other that carves out the canvas of this bizarre but entertaining musical comedy.
For the uninitiated, John Waters is another director who works way off the beaten path who loves to present bizarre stories that stretch credibility at every turn and characters that walk a fine line between funny and repellent and this film is no exception. He also likes to utilize a very select rep company of actors in his films. He is responsible for bringing the famed transvestite Divine (Pink Flamingos) to the screen and pretty much made a star out of Ricki Lake.
Waters went a step further than he usually does, making this film a musical, with a fantastic 50's styled musical score by Patrick Williams that perfectly captures the feelings of the 1950's in a way that Happy Days never did. The musical numbers are imaginatively staged and serve the story instead of slowing it down, the standout being "Please Mr. Jailer", a jazzy production number which features Locane at her steamiest. It should be mentioned that Depp and Locane do not do their own singing, but the lip synching is credibly done.
This film is not for all tastes, but if you're a fan of musicals, Depp (who is basically sex on legs here), or the director, this one will not disappoint.