← Back to Reviews
in
To Wong Foo Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar (Beeban Kidron, 1995)
This is actually a low-key fairy tale about tolerance, being one's self, and always trying to help others in need. Brenda picked this one as a Swayze Tribute movie, and I found it more entertaining than I had previously. It's about two drag queens, Vida (Swayze) and Noxzeema (Wesley Snipes), who take under their wings a "drag princess", Chi-Chi (John Leguizamo) who has a few things to learn before she can become a queen. En route to Hollywood by car, the trio have a run-in with a bigoted sheriff (Chris Penn), and after their cadillac breaks down, they're forced to stay in the boondocks for the weekend. It's little wonder that the three "career girls" change the lives of the locals forever. Although there are some dramatic moments, To Wong Foo is basically a feel-good comedy. The key to the film's charms is that it always takes the characters seriously and rarely resorts to freakish caricatures for its humor (unless you want to count the one about abusive husbands, but I won't count that one). There is also a huge cast of actresses here: Stockard Channing, Blythe Danner, Melinda Dillon, Beth Grant, Alice Drummond, Marceline Hugot and Jennifer Milmore. People often call this a remake or a ripoff of the Australian film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and there are plenty of similarities and just as many differences, so to me, it doesn't really matter unless you're trying to collect some money from Hollywood for plagiarism.
This is actually a low-key fairy tale about tolerance, being one's self, and always trying to help others in need. Brenda picked this one as a Swayze Tribute movie, and I found it more entertaining than I had previously. It's about two drag queens, Vida (Swayze) and Noxzeema (Wesley Snipes), who take under their wings a "drag princess", Chi-Chi (John Leguizamo) who has a few things to learn before she can become a queen. En route to Hollywood by car, the trio have a run-in with a bigoted sheriff (Chris Penn), and after their cadillac breaks down, they're forced to stay in the boondocks for the weekend. It's little wonder that the three "career girls" change the lives of the locals forever. Although there are some dramatic moments, To Wong Foo is basically a feel-good comedy. The key to the film's charms is that it always takes the characters seriously and rarely resorts to freakish caricatures for its humor (unless you want to count the one about abusive husbands, but I won't count that one). There is also a huge cast of actresses here: Stockard Channing, Blythe Danner, Melinda Dillon, Beth Grant, Alice Drummond, Marceline Hugot and Jennifer Milmore. People often call this a remake or a ripoff of the Australian film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and there are plenty of similarities and just as many differences, so to me, it doesn't really matter unless you're trying to collect some money from Hollywood for plagiarism.