Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)

Too much of everything

Sadly Over-hyped

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

There are very few mocumentaries that I have seen that I actually liked, let alone loved. This movie falls into the 'Loved' category (along with 'This is Spinal Tap'). With an incredible cast, and non-stop dark, biting humor, Drop Dead Gorgeous is one of the few comedies that I've seen that had me laughing out loud.Kirstie Allie, Allison Janney, Ellen Barken, Brittany Murphy, a young Amy Adams, Kirstin Dunst, Denise Richards...so many great actors, and all do a great job. But special kudos go to Will Sasso and Michael McShane, who make an outstanding comedic team.There are some bits that could be considered in 'bad taste' by some, so if you are overly sensitive you may not enjoy it as much. But for the other 99%, check this film out as soon as possible. It is hilarious from beginning to end!

Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999): Dir: Michael Patrick Jann / Cast: Kirstie Alley, Kirsten Dunst, Denise Richards, Ellen Barkin, Allison Janney: Hilarious satire of beauty pageants and the deadly act of pride as beautiful faces conceal fuming hatred. The girls assemble in front of cameras and discuss their dreams then go through the pains and gains of preparations. Directed by Michael Patrick Jann who has an eye for comic timing and details the film with colourful sets. Kirstie Alley plays a past winner whose motives that are less than honorable. She represents the mother who pushes her daughter into where she once shined in order to relive the memory but her greed leads to downfall. Her daughter is played by Denise Richards who was given a gun and "aims to win" at the pageant. Kirsten Dunst lives in a trailer park with her mother and works at the local morgue. Dunst and Richards are not just at odds within the competition but also competing for the affections of the same male. Ellen Barkin is hilarious as Dunst's mother with a beer can burned into her hand after their trailer suffers an explosion. Allison Janney is also in top comic form as a friend of Barkin's who helps Dunst get preparation. Even the judges are out to lunch in their total lack of knowledge or experience in these events. It presents the false galore of judging physical beauty resulting in a comedy that is drop dead hilarious. Score: 10 / 10

There were a lot of really good films in the late 90s that came and went un noticed, some found an audience on VHS and others simply slipped away into the weekly rental section and stayed there until DVDs took over, resulting in such films being all but forgotten. It's a shame such a fate befell Drop Dead Gorgeous, a dark, funny and genuinely clever lampooning of the beauty queen pageant done as mockumentary.Drop Dead Gorgeous focuses on a film crew who are making a documentary about a local beauty pageant, interviewing all of the contestants and event organizer Gladys (Kirstie Alley) a former pageant winner who's daughter Rebecca (Denise Richards) is entering this year's pageant. Two things quickly become obvious: that ill fortune is befalling many of the entrants and the only serious contenders and Rebecca and girl-next-door Amber Atkins (Kirsten Dunst). Amber comes from a trailer trash family (Ellen Barkin plays her mother), and works making up dead bodies at the local funeral home. A young Brittany Murphy and Amy Adams also star.The film is well written, finding a good blend of darkness and humour and always keeping a light tone, which is the key to the film's charm. Some scenes verge on being brilliant and the performances, particularly Kirstie Alley, are all first rate.While the film can be enjoyed on multiple viewings, it's not really the type you watch over and over, which also would have counted against it as an appealing VHS purchase.Fun, dark and well made, Drop Dead Gorgeous is well worth tracking down.

Drop Dead Gorgeous is directed by Michael Patrick Jann and stars Kirstie Alley, Ellen Barkin, Denise Richards, Brittany Murphy and Kirsten Dunst. Written and produced by Lona Williams it's shot in a mockumentary format and follows the contestants in a beauty pageant called the Sarah Rose Cosmetics Mount Rose American Teen Princess Pageant, held in the small town of Mount Rose, Minnesota. It seems that some parents, and some girls, will stop at nothing to win this particular contest.It's pretty evident quite early on in Jann's film that this is no ordinary look at Middle America. This is biting satire that pokes the soft underbelly of those so fascinated by beauty pageants out there in the good old U.S. of A. The roll call of gags, both visually and orally, reads like one of Lucifer's best of lists; featuring anorexia, amputees, burns victims, perversion and Jesus gets a kicking too. Yet it's not shock tactics that are the order of the day, the writing from Williams (notably once a Minnesota pageant queen herself) is very aware and steers safely away from charges of crudeness. Sure, some things may offend, but the film is structured in such a way (the docu team angle is excellently realised) it's all very hard to take seriously: and rightly so.The cast perhaps unsurprisingly are mostly female, what guys are involved are either perverts, dunces, weirdos or dead! In the Mother corners we have Kirstie Alley & Ellen Barkin, with both ladies wonderfully rising to the tongue in cheek occasion, and representing the daughters are trailer trash Kirsten Dunst and spoiled rich kid beauty Denise Richards. Allison Janney provides wise cracking-man hungry-comic relief, while the petite line of contestants contains the likes of Brittany Murphy and Amy Adams. All do good work for the spiky script, where the film falls down, however, is with it's rather pointless last 20 to 30 minutes. Possibly it's down to inexperience on the part of the makers that the film loses its way? We have the big contest shenanigans and a kicker of a twist to boot, but then have to suffer a number of convo's and time fillers that aren't really needed. We can accept Richards looking about 5 years too old for this particular contest, but half hour of film speaking to god knows who? We can not.Still, it's a fun in a sickly kind of way movie, one that is bold and lit up by some very rewarding acting performances. 6.5/10