Cry-Baby (1990)

Waste of time

Good movie but grossly overrated

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

I read this film's information on Wikipedia and found it entertaining. Then, I watched the Cry-Baby film. I would soon find out this film would give me the heebie jeebies so much that I had to turn it off from trauma. From what I saw, I think the writers had an intriguing idea yet didn't quite match my desired expectations. I'm not hating on this film. It just wasn't for me.

What can I say...perfect! It was too short, because I wanted more and more... I smiled almost every minute of the movie, because everything was so funny, very lovely and hot! Actors and actresses were acting perfectly. I don't have any rebukes. Soundtracks were very musical, vivacious and hilarious. Plot was very easy to watch, very soft, but also very intense at the same time. 10 points for soundtracks. 10 points for actors and actresses. 10 points for director, who created this amazing film. I love these ages, times which are shown in "Cry-baby". I couldn't take my eyes from the computer. To be honest, the plot was a little bit banal, but never mind. It's normal, it's a comedy. It's a musical! Hard to believe that acting is very hard and not easy job, because actors and actresses played fantastic and very easy. They weren't who they are, they were characters, they lived like characters. I want to say that they are very strong and they worth to be in Hollywood. One of the best films I have ever watched.

'Cry-Baby' is good film, up there with 'Grease', 'American Graffiti' and other films which depict teenage high-school life, cliques and the pop culture, fashions and music of the 1950s. 'Cry-Baby' is a good attempt to parody the romance of good girls and greasers as seen in 'Grease' and films with a similar focus. However, I do use the word 'attempt' strongly here. The film suffers from a lack of well developed satirical jokes and parody of 50s high school movies and if more time and thought had been put into it, it could have so much better. The other main failing of the film in my opinion is that the plot is too awkward and rushed: I don't think Alison's grandmother could have let her hang out with greasers so easily and the sequence of the prison sentences and the conclusion goes way to quickly to make the film satisfying. The characters are also somewhat one dimensional and more scenes to let us get acquainted with them and show the tensions i.e. Alison and her grandmother and Alison and her square singer boyfriend would have made the film so much more enjoyable and believable. If more scenes had been filmed to cover these elements and the final release was about 2 hours, the whole movie would have been so much better. However, aside from that, I do re-watch this frequently and it is still very entertaining.

First and foremost, this is a spot on parody of 1950's juvenile delinquent films. If you've never seen any of the old movies it's making fun of...or if you just don't get satire...then you may not like Cry Baby. But if you're fan of Rebel Without a Cause, The Wild One, The Deliquents, etc...well, then you simply shouldn't miss this film.Wade 'Cry Baby' Walker is the bad boy who is, in reality, not so bad. He has a soft side and is in love with the squeaky clean good girl, Allison. Their affair causes a rift between the two social factions of Baltimore, the rich kid 'Squares' and the cool kid 'Drapes'. The characters are way over the top, the dialog is oh so clichéd....and that's what makes it fantastic! The soundtrack doesn't hurt either! Just like Waters' Hairspray, the soundtrack is almost a lead character itself. Even the choreographed, production numbers (which is something I'd normally hate) are extremely enjoyable because they're such obvious jabs at Elvis movie song sequences.The cast of this film is just amazing. Johnny Depp is supremo hot and Amy Locane is great considering she was only 19 and just starting her career. Iggy Pop is PERFECT and absolutely adorable as Uncle Belvedere. Ricky Lake, Traci Lords and the rest of the 'gang' are a hoot! And of course there's Patty Hearst, Willem Defoe, and the legendary Polly Bergen and lovely Joey Heatherton (you'll find her unrecognizable as Milton's sourpuss, bible thumping mother!) The best thing about the cast though, was the inclusion of some of the actual old teen stars from the '50s in cameos: David Nelson, Troy Donahue. Fun script, fun cast...just FUN all around! 9/10