Essentials: Drop Dead Gorgeous

Year: 1999
Genre: Comedy
Directed: Michael Patrick Jann
Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Ellen Barkin, Allison Janney, Denise Richards, Kirstie Alley, Brittany Murphy, Amy Adams, Sam McMurray, Laurie A. Sinclair, Shannon Nelson
Production: New Line Cinema

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 (Dunst) is a modest teenager with the modest goal of performing her dance routine in front of her mother (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 (Richards) and her overbearing, duplicitous mother, (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.

Waiting for Guffman: Christopher Guest's Magnum Opus

People who deride this film because it doesn't rise to the level of Waiting for Guffman (1996) 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 (1995-2004). 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.

Final Grade: A