Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Really Surprised!

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Very funny movie, with such good humor. Very funny movie, with such good humor.

Basically, this is a "mockumentary" style film. Kirstin is the protagonist, living with her mother (Ellen) in a mobile home. When the documentary team approaches a neighbor asks if they're on "Cops," again. It just gets better and better. It just has layers and layers of crazy, and stupid, and hick, and silly, small-town nonsense wrapped in more and more of the same. Denise Richards is priceless as is Brittany Murphy. From start to finish, it giggle, after chuckle, after out-right guffaws. The mix of small town realities with the desire to escape the anonymity of small town life is what leads all the characters to engage in every part of the "beauty pageant." The pageant has almost nothing to do with the movie plot.

A small town beauty pageant turns deadly as it becomes clear that someone will go to any lengths to win. A strong cast pulls the most out of mediocre material. From an artistic standpoint, there were some plot elements and character developments I didn't think were totally needed. They do however drive the story, which seemed to be their purpose, so I can accept them. The kind of film that successfully proves that a small story can be much more meaningful than a larger one. If you can find it on DVD or Bluray for under $10, buy it, but it won't be worth much more than that to you because it's a bit outdated according to my personal tastes.

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