"I pride myself on the fact that my work has no socially redeeming value." --John Waters
Of course, one only has to see just about any John Waters film to know this statement is not true.
Over the weekend, one of the Stars Channels ran Cry Baby in fairly heavy rotation. I hadn't seen it in awhile. This is perhaps Waters' sweetest movie, at least as sweet as Pecker.
It is a riff/hommage to the teen musicals of the fifties and early sixties with some direct references to Jailhouse Rock and Bye Bye Birdie. Johnny Depp in the lead role does a remarkable job of being a believable teen heart throb in the midst of the usual Waters madness.
The usual Waters cast is here with Ricki Lake as the knocked-up (3rd time) teenage sister of Depp, Patty Hearst as the too-understanding mother of bad-girl teen Traci Lords. Troy Donahue and Mink Stole also show up. A standout in the cast is Kim McGuire as Hatchet Face. This movie should be seen for her performance alone.
There are some flaws, most notably the about face that Polly Bergan as Mrs. Vernon-Williams does that is rather jarring, out of character, and rather inexplicable.
This is actually a surprisingly good musical also.
Go rent it.
