TO WONG FOO, THANKS FOR EVERYTHING, JULIE NEWMAR
A film review by Christopher Null
Copyright 1995 Christopher Null
"Quirky" doesn't begin to describe the new, long-awaited film TO WONG FOO, THANKS FOR EVERYTHING, JULIE NEWMAR. If you've seen any of the promos for the movie, you probably know the premise: three drag queens (Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes, and John Leguizamo) start a cross-country trek to Hollywood, carting with them their wardrobes and an autographed picture with the title inscription. Hardly out of New York, their car breaks down in middle-of-nowhere Snydersville. Here, the "ladies" give the town a makeover, bringing it not only fashion sense, but respect for women, racial harmony, and an end to spouse abuse. A drag queen can do a lot when she puts her mind to it.
The three are as different as drag queens can be. Vida (Swayze) sweeps around like a Southern debutante, while Noxeema (Snipes) acts more like a pro wrestler. Chi Chi (Leguizamo) is the Charo-type of the bunch, a drag queen-in-training who never realizes when she's laying it on too thick. Of the three, Leguizamo is the one to watch. It's almost frightening how well he lands his role, while Swayze and Snipes are more like guys acting like guys in drag. The supporting cast is uninspiring, but watching for the numerous cameos is fun.
Most of the time, the film is so totally unconventional that it's riotously funny, but the one-joke premise wears a little thin and often becomes as silly as a Jim Carrey vehicle. And although it borrows heavily from last year's PRISCILLA: QUEEN OF THE DESERT, TO WONG FOO is still quite a bit different and takes cross-dressing into realms I never knew existed.
When it's all said and done, TO WONG FOO tries to make some wholesome social statements, but they seem out of place. The film is a fun time, and that's about all that should be expected. It faces a dilemma just like the one the trio faces when choosing a vehicle to purchase: should they go with "style" or "substance." The choice seems obvious.
RATING: ***1/2
+-------------------------------+ |* Unquestionably awful | |** Sub-par on many levels | |*** Average, hits and misses | |**** Good, memorable film | |***** Perfection | +-------------------------------+
-Christopher Null / null@utxvms.cc.utexas.edu -Film Critic, Screenwriter, Novelist (Mailing list available)
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews