Cry-Baby (1990)

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

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

Trouble brews in a small Baltimore town when pretty 'square' Alison (Amy Locane) falls for bad-boy 'drape' Cry-Baby (Johnny Depp), so called because of the single tear he sheds every time he does something rotten.Following the success of Hairspray (1988), cult director John Waters continues to flirt with mainstream movie-making with this trailer-trash musical, a gloriously campy effort inspired by '50s rock 'n' roll movies that boasts an extremely colourful cast, including rocker Iggy Pop, ex-porn-star Traci Lords, Waters regular Mink Stole, notorious kidnap victim Patricia Hearst, Warhol acolyte Joe Dallesandro, future chat-show host Ricki Lake, and '50s heart-throb Troy Donahue, plus a small but memorable role for Willem Dafoe.It kinda goes without saying that the film is just as kooky as its collection of off-beat performers suggests, with lots of crazy comedy, a touching love story, and plenty of well-executed musical numbers (Depp and Locane lip-synch—probably not a bad thing—but the songs are great). It's good natured, family friendly fun, that at the same time somehow remains unmistakably 'Waters' (don't worry, though… no-one tucks into a freshly laid dog turd in this film).6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for the laughing rat and the scared cow.

It's the classic American social confrontation (borrowed from Animal house and others). Here it's the drapes versus the squares- rock & race music versus the conservative letterman sweater crowd. Cry Baby is a good introduction to John Waters who had to tone down his usual visual mayhem for a big time commercial release. If you're new to John Waters, try this one before you go on to something like Pink flamingos (although I will say that some people should probably never see Pink Flamingos.) It's a decent musical. Jim Intveld did all of Depp's vocals, and he's pretty well known in the hepcat rockabilly circles because of this. In fact, I do believe that this movie helped bring about the rockabilly resurgence that started in the '90s. A lot of good rockabilly & psychobilly bands started to appear after this movie came out.

A small and funny film shot in the late 1980s (1989-1990), at the end of Reagan's era and in the middle of George Bush Senior's regency, has no pretension except to debunk everything and everyone and make fun of a system that is as crooked as it is full of bigotry. A remake of the Mods and the Rockers, of the Jets and the Sharks, the Montague and the Capulet, American sauce on top and whip cream to top it off and kick it up. But this multiple remake is so overloaded with clichés and prejudices that it becomes hilarious and the objective is to make us laugh at those biases and other preconceived ideas about the other group, since the whole world is nothing but A versus B.At the same time the film debunks fake education based on square ideas being the best in the world, on some clean type of dressing being the only decent, godlike and non-obscene way of dressing, all the rest, jeans and everything else, being nothing but homosexual showing off especially for girls who are supposed to wear decent dresses.You add a love story in that viper nest and you have a real Romeo and a genuine Juliet. But the world must have changed because the judge is falling in love with Juliet's grandmother and he becomes sentimental and releases Romeo, alias Cry Baby. I must admit that the prison break is definitely as good as all those we were able to examine and/or supervise in the eponymous TV series. And do not forget that the best way to get out of trouble is to follow the rat. Rats are best to get out of the way, out of trouble and back to home security, I do not mean the security of your home.The film is fabulous as for the music of the late 1950s, actually dated thanks to the evening prayer in the very special school for boys where the "boys" are supposed to thank Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. That's cool indeed. Be it only for the music the film is worth its eighty-two minutes, but the "dancing" and the performance of the actors, particularly the very young Johnny Depp is refreshing in this world where everything is nothing but special effect and make believe.An excellent piece of dialogue alluding to the famous Unabomber who was definitely literate and had been active in the bombing business since 1978 at the time when the film was made.Cry-Baby: That's right, Allison. My father was the "Alphabet Bomber." He may have been crazy, but he was my pop. Only one I ever had. Allison: God. I heard about the Alphabet Bomber. Bombs exploding in the... in the airport and barber shop... Cry-Baby: That's right. All in alphabetical order. Car wash... drug store... I used to lay in my crib and hear him scream in his sleep..."A,B,C,D,E,F,G... BOOM! BOOM!" Allison: But your mom... Cry-Baby: My mother tried to stop him. She couldn't even spell, for Christ's sake, but they fried her too.Have one empathetic thought for this man who is in prison for life.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

In 1950s Baltimore, a bad-boy with a heart of gold (Johnny Depp) wins the love of a good-girl (Amy Locane), whose grandmother (Polly Bergen) smells like moth balls and turkey grease.I like the quirkiness of John Waters and he really has assembled an impressive cast here (catching Depp before he became even bigger). But I just did not get all that attached to the film, primarily because of the singing. I am sure the music that turned me off is the same reason many people love the film, but I just could not get into it.I still think it is worth seeing, especially if you are a fan of Waters, Depp or Ricki Lake. Seeing Amy Locane in a prominent role was cool, and it is a shame she never quite made it to A-list star level (though she made it further than Jill Schoelen).