Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Hajimoto0625 There are very few mocumentaries that I have seen that I actually liked, let alone loved. This movie falls into the 'Loved' category (along with 'This is Spinal Tap'). With an incredible cast, and non-stop dark, biting humor, Drop Dead Gorgeous is one of the few comedies that I've seen that had me laughing out loud.Kirstie Allie, Allison Janney, Ellen Barken, Brittany Murphy, a young Amy Adams, Kirstin Dunst, Denise Richards...so many great actors, and all do a great job. But special kudos go to Will Sasso and Michael McShane, who make an outstanding comedic team.There are some bits that could be considered in 'bad taste' by some, so if you are overly sensitive you may not enjoy it as much. But for the other 99%, check this film out as soon as possible. It is hilarious from beginning to end!

JamieWJackson Perhaps knowing Minnesota better would make this a more enjoyable film. I don't know much at all about it, and I found myself cringing more than laughing. There were some good moments, but they sank under the weight of too many ham-handed "laugh at this stereotype" ones. This person loves Jesus! Ha! Ha! How funny! Wait, she's using Jesus' name as a swear word! She's a hypocrite! What a knee-slapper! Hey, this guy is a pervert! Ha! Haha! Oh that's hilarious! The problem is that most of these things aren't funny at all, at least on their own. Again, maybe knowing Minnesota better would bring out the humor, but if that's the case then this is a giant "in joke", and I'll provide the warning for those who aren't "in" to probably just skip this movie.The last 15 minutes didn't feel like they fit; the story felt like it should end with the contest we were following for all of the first 4/5 of the movie. After that I wasn't sure where we were going, or why. The movie's focus seemed to change from the original contest to the contest winner. Either redo the first 4/5 of the movie to make it focus on her, or else lose the last bit so the focus stays on the contest.Also, why did Kirstie Alley's character do what she did in the parade? Her comments both before and after indicate that she knew what was going to happen when she did it, so...!?! That bit just made no sense.I did really like Ellen Barkin and Allison Janney. They did a lot with the material they were given. Most of the other characters... again, I guess I just didn't get it.3/10: 1 for a few laughs, 1 for Ellen & Allison, and 1 for the eye candy, Amy Adams and Denise Richards in particular -- and am I getting old or can I throw Ellen in there too? (I love Brittany Murphy but I didn't like her that much here, which I blame on this movie just not being very good; she plays a similarly goofy character in 1997's "Drive" which I absolutely loved, so if you like her energy here, check out that one.)

popcorninhell The quaint tales from Lake Wobegon have nothing on this pitch black fable from Mt Rose's, Miss Teen Princess Pageant. Captured by a supposed documentary film crew over a course of a few weeks, "Drop Dead Gorgeous's" biting satire and gallows humor hits you like a malfunctioning stage light to the head.Amber Atkins (Kirsten Dunst) is a modest teenager with the modest goal of performing her dance routine in front of her mother (Ellen Barkin) who was a former beauty queen. Amber's other idol, Dianne Sawyer was also a beauty pageant winner so it only makes sense she's in it to win it. Her chances of taking home the prize however are dimmed at every turn by town rich girl Becky Leeman (Denise Richards) and her overbearing, duplicitous mother, (Kristie Alley) who is also the pageant organizer. As "accidents" start to occur and bodies start to pile up around town it is clear something's rotten in the State of Minnesota.You might gleam that this film pokes a lot of fun at beauty pageants. Well, you'd be right but small town America gets by far the largest skewering as evidenced not only with the exaggerated Midwestern accents and trailer park foolishness but the corruption of the pageant itself. Each character, even the background ones leave an indelible mark, showcasing a parade of farcical character traits and neurosis topped only by their particular "talents". They are of course oblivious to their own faults allowing the film crew to edit their doc with levels upon levels of delicious irony.People who deride this film because it doesn't rise to the level of "Waiting for Guffman" are making a false comparison. "Guffman" uses the mockumentary style as its own genre. The humor stems not from anarchic comedy or exaggerated satire but from the human elements captured' on film. Christopher Guest's characters are more three-dimensional and as a result the satire culminates in warm lighthearted jabs. "Drop Dead Gorgeous" on the other hand is a dark comedy with the mockumentary style serving only as a gimmick. The style isn't fundamentally important to the themes like in "Guffman" yet important to amplify a few key gags.And boy are these gags effective! Nearly every joke hits it mark. Due credit should be given to scribe Lona Williams who also penned and story edited much of the Drew Carrey Show. But I reserve my largest accolades to the cast. Not only do Dunst, Barkin, and Alley deliver but so does the supporting cast which includes Allison Janney Brittany Murphy, Amy Adams, Mindy Sterling and even walk-ons by Adam West and the always funny Nora Dunn.In conclusion, for those who like their satire cold and black, and those who can appreciate a largely female cast "Drop Dead Gorgeous" maybe just the shot in the arm you need.http://theyservepopcorninhell.blogspot.com/

Spikeopath 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