Drop Dead Gorgeous is an incorrigible satire that overcomes the doomed reputation of its genre to be one of the funniest films I've seen in a long time. Even when it's well done, satire tends to be more clever than comedic
and it usually isn't that well done in the first place. This movie spectacularly succeeds by not only offering up sharp takes on fairly obvious and easy targets, but also delivering delightful bits of lunacy that will make you laugh at everything from horrific eating disorders to physical mutilation.
The story is about a documentary film crew that goes to the small Minnesota town of Mount Rose to cover the local qualifying pageant for the America's Teen Princess competition. They film and interview the pageant organizers, young contestants and their friends and family. The crew is also around to record the deaths and maimings that surround the pageant and always seem to benefit Becky Leeman (Denise Richards), the jaded and two-faced daughter of Gladys Leeman (Kirstie Alley), the pageant organizer, a former pageant winner and a stage mom desperate to relive her past glory. The only real competitor to Becky, at least the only one that luckily remains unharmed, is Amber Atkins (Kirsten Dunst). She's the good hearted trailer park girl who squeezes in tap dancing practice during her two jobs, one in the school cafeteria and the other putting make up on stiffs in the town funeral parlor.
As you might expect, a lot of the satire of Drop Dead Gorgeous is aimed at the natives of Minnesota and the classic tropes of small town life. It's reflected best in some of the pageant contestants. There's the slutty cheerleader (Amy Adams), the drama club chick (Laurie Sinclair), the tomboy of ambiguous sexuality (Brooke Bushman) and the fat girl who loves her dog a little too much (Shannon Nelson). But these filmmakers then compliment those fairly obvious characters with some wonderfully off kilter contestants. One young woman is a future fag hag (Brittany Murphy), another lives her life as a tribute to her deaf mother (Sarah Stewart) and another is a white girl adopted and raised by Japanese parents that are pathetically desperate to assimilate into the good ol' U S of A.
By adding bizarre and outrageous bits that are only trying to make you laugh, it makes the satiric and darker outlook of the film go down a lot smoother. Many satires fall into the trap of being self righteous or exploitative but because there's a different and separate layer of comedy running through the story, Drop Dead Gorgeous is just plain hilarious. As you react to the crazy, non-satiric jokes, it becomes easier to appreciate the humor underlying the satire. And since the non-satiric comedy is more over-the-top and potentially offensive than the satiric moments, it never feels like the film is being judgmental about these characters or their dreams.
Helping things out is a cast that's as good as the material they're given to work with. Kirsten Dunst and Amy Adams are the highlights, both absolutely adorable and just close enough to being realistic to give their characters that extra oomph. Ellen Barkin is also great as Amber's "rode hard and put away wet" mother and Allison Janney almost steals the show as her outspoken and cougarish trailer park neighbor. The other actors are also very funny and screenwriter Lona Williams gives one of the best performances in the movie without saying a word. Denise Richards is well, she's Denise Richards. If you've seen her in other films, you know what to expect. She's good looking and makes an effort, but there's just not a lot going on.
Drop Dead Gorgeous is a movie about teenage beauty pageants that's so funny and bold, even a lot of high school boys could enjoy it and I'm talking about heterosexual high school boys. I'm not sure there's any higher praise that I can give.
The story is about a documentary film crew that goes to the small Minnesota town of Mount Rose to cover the local qualifying pageant for the America's Teen Princess competition. They film and interview the pageant organizers, young contestants and their friends and family. The crew is also around to record the deaths and maimings that surround the pageant and always seem to benefit Becky Leeman (Denise Richards), the jaded and two-faced daughter of Gladys Leeman (Kirstie Alley), the pageant organizer, a former pageant winner and a stage mom desperate to relive her past glory. The only real competitor to Becky, at least the only one that luckily remains unharmed, is Amber Atkins (Kirsten Dunst). She's the good hearted trailer park girl who squeezes in tap dancing practice during her two jobs, one in the school cafeteria and the other putting make up on stiffs in the town funeral parlor.
As you might expect, a lot of the satire of Drop Dead Gorgeous is aimed at the natives of Minnesota and the classic tropes of small town life. It's reflected best in some of the pageant contestants. There's the slutty cheerleader (Amy Adams), the drama club chick (Laurie Sinclair), the tomboy of ambiguous sexuality (Brooke Bushman) and the fat girl who loves her dog a little too much (Shannon Nelson). But these filmmakers then compliment those fairly obvious characters with some wonderfully off kilter contestants. One young woman is a future fag hag (Brittany Murphy), another lives her life as a tribute to her deaf mother (Sarah Stewart) and another is a white girl adopted and raised by Japanese parents that are pathetically desperate to assimilate into the good ol' U S of A.
By adding bizarre and outrageous bits that are only trying to make you laugh, it makes the satiric and darker outlook of the film go down a lot smoother. Many satires fall into the trap of being self righteous or exploitative but because there's a different and separate layer of comedy running through the story, Drop Dead Gorgeous is just plain hilarious. As you react to the crazy, non-satiric jokes, it becomes easier to appreciate the humor underlying the satire. And since the non-satiric comedy is more over-the-top and potentially offensive than the satiric moments, it never feels like the film is being judgmental about these characters or their dreams.
Helping things out is a cast that's as good as the material they're given to work with. Kirsten Dunst and Amy Adams are the highlights, both absolutely adorable and just close enough to being realistic to give their characters that extra oomph. Ellen Barkin is also great as Amber's "rode hard and put away wet" mother and Allison Janney almost steals the show as her outspoken and cougarish trailer park neighbor. The other actors are also very funny and screenwriter Lona Williams gives one of the best performances in the movie without saying a word. Denise Richards is well, she's Denise Richards. If you've seen her in other films, you know what to expect. She's good looking and makes an effort, but there's just not a lot going on.
Drop Dead Gorgeous is a movie about teenage beauty pageants that's so funny and bold, even a lot of high school boys could enjoy it and I'm talking about heterosexual high school boys. I'm not sure there's any higher praise that I can give.