Drop Dead Gorgeous

Being from Minne-sohtah, I couldn't have asked for a better parody of the state, the people, and the whole beauty pageant thing. It's a great dark comedy with wonderful acting and accents(minus Denise Richards who can seemingly act only one way...badly). It's fun and light-hearted, taking even touchy subjects and making them goofy enough to laugh at. I recommend this movie as a 9 out of 10. And for anyone who hasn't ever eaten bars and hotdish in a church basement or community center in small town Minnesota, this movie makes you feel like you are really there... Lucky you.

Drop Dead Gorgeous is a film about a teenage beauty pageant. As you might expect; it features plenty of young girls in skimpy outfits, dancing, singing and all that crap. However, unlike a lot of films of the same ilk; here, hidden behind a facade of teen beauty and all the other trademarks of the teen comedy genre, is an intelligently written, witty and very dark satire on the consumer society.

Drop Dead Gorgeous is a filmed in the style of a documentary, a la 'This is Spinal Tap' and follows the escapades of a group of contenders in the annual beauty pageant. The contenders are introduced via a very amusing sequence, which sees them tell the audience about themselves. It's very MTV in the way it's done, with all the girls introducing themselves as shallow, fussy, typical teenage girls. After that, the film starts to set its dark tone, with one of the girls being blown up, and is the tone that will be carried throughout the rest of the movie. Some of the humour in this movie is so dark that even I, a fan of very black comedy, couldn't decide whether to laugh at or not; a woman that gets a beer can melted to her hand, an anorexic previous winner, and the pageant winner being blown up on a huge float are all included in this movie. It's lighter and more tongue in cheek moments are also done very well, such as the part in which one of the judge's brothers gets caught in the car door, or a hilarious 'home video' of an explosion.

The characters in Drop Dead Gorgeous are all, with the exception of Amber Atkins, disagreeable, shallow and overblown stereotypes. This is one of this movie's main assets; it has the parodying of stereotypical people spot on; we've got an "I'm not a pervert" pervert judge, an insensitive, egotistical head of the richest family in town, the overenthusiastic boyfriend and many other colourful and amusing characters. Some of the lines said by these characters are priceless; stupid, but not overly stupid and you really could imagine people like these saying things like the characters in this film do.

The entire cast of this movie excels; it features a lot of small characters and each one plays their part to perfection. The main acting plaudits come for Kirsten Dunst in the starring role of Amber Atkins. Kirsten has the ability to act, and act well and she's also extremely good looking. Many actresses look good and can't act, or vice versa but Kirsten has both abilities, which makes her a very good lady to have in your film. With a few more hits under her belt; Kirsten may well be remembered as the finest actress of her generation. Two other stand out performances come from Kirstie Alley as the former winner of the pageant and mother of one of the contestants; and Ellen Barkin, who brings the characters of Amber's mother to life brilliantly.

Drop Dead Gorgeous is a film that will be overlooked by many because it's a teen comedy. This is a great injustice; here we have a film that is extremely funny, well acted and actually has something to say.

Quite bluntly, this film is stupid. However, it's a rare breed, one of those "good" "stupid movies". I've read some reviews criticizing this film for not accurately portraying Minnesota. Some viewers simply don't get it. This movie is supposed to be "stupid". It is not supposed to be some supremely accurate social depiction of small town Minnesota. It is a mockumentary and an intentionally absurd exaggeration. And it works like a charm. If you "get it", this will be one of the funniest movies you'll ever view. The actors are almost, top to bottom, perfect... especially the portrayals of Amber Atkins' mother and aunt, and the Vilmes father and son. I can see how certain viewers would absolutely abhor this seemingly inane, ridiculous film. But it is, truly, a phenomenally clever spoof on a competition many treat as life and death. In fact, it's almost frightening that there's a little more realism in this farce than most would like to admit. This film is simply a fabulous little spectacle.

Best line: "You are a good person. Good things happen to good people." "Really?" "No, it's pure bull____, sweetie. You're lucky as hell, so you might as well enjoy it."

This is a semi-hilarious mock documentary about a teen beauty contest in Minnesota. Anywhere from hilarious to ridiculous and all points in between. The only thing redeeming is Kirsten Dunst. She knows how to get your pity, concern and loyalty. Ellen Barkin is hardly recognized as Kirsten's drunken mother. Kirstie Alley is pretty darn good as the dirty dealing former beauty queen and mother of the obvious next winner(Denise Richards). Miss Richards' character is beautiful; but spoiled, pampered and a bitch. Not exactly an expose, because the behind the scenes back stabbing is assumed to be part of a beauty pageant. Tongue-in-cheek humor. Nevertheless another vehicle for the talented Miss Dunst.

From the moment front-runner Tammy Curry (Brooke Bushman) is blown to pieces on her sabotaged tractor, it's clear this beauty pageant will be fought tooth and nail. And it ain't gonna be pretty.

In the small Midwest community of Mount Rose, Minnesota, the Sarah Rose Miss Teen Princess contest is into the final furlong. But for all the sugar-coated spoutings of world peace and harmony hairspray, it's a question of victory by any means necessary - as a roving documentary film crew discovers.

In the Blue Ribbon rhubarb pie corner is Becky Leeman (Richards, rich kid daughter of former winner and rabidly proud officiating beauty pageant President Gladys (Alley). And in the red, trailer-trash corner is morgue make-up artist Amber Atkins (Dunst), championed by her boozy mother Annette (Barkin) and her mother's morally suspect best friend Loretta (Janney).

Casting wise it's spot on, as Alley launches with smiley, viper spitefulness into a beacon of single-minded hypocrisy, and is well matched by Richards, even if she looks the least convincing high school teenager since Stockard Channing's Rizzo enrolled in Rydell High. Dunst meanwhile blossoms into a very accomplished actress, and - together with Barkin and Janney - claims most of the prize lines.

If there's a weakness it's that the mockumentary approach doesn't always work, and the film drags on a little too long after a seemingly natural conclusion. Still, the dark laughs are consistent, and the parody of middle America's bizarre beauty contest fixation is spiked with some jolting shock tactics - from the nurse-assisted wheelchair dance by the reigning anorexic crown holder to Richards' hilarious (not to mention blasphemous) love song for Jesus - but such blackness never obstructs rooting for Dunst's likable teen. An outrageous, deliciously bad-taste classic.

8/10