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To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar
Despite a memorable title and a trio of sparkling performances in the lead roles, a 1995 tale of bigotry and tolerance called To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar doesn't really provide the same kind of originality as the title.
The late Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes. and John Leguizamo took real career risks when they accepted the roles of three drag queens who embark on a cross country car trip to Hollywood who find themselves stranded in a one horse redneck town one weekend when their car breaks down.
My second viewing of this film reveals that it doesn't hold up as well as I had hoped. Douglas Carter Beane's screenplay provides some education regarding tolerance and what causes a man to abandon shirts and pants in favor of panty hose and padded bras on a daily basis. This is beautifully illustrated in the opening scenes that show Vida Boheme (Swayze) and Noxema Jackson (Snipes) leave behind the hetero world and become the queens that they are.
Sadly, the story begins to fall apart as our three heroines arrive in this little town and have this Pied Piper effect on the inhabitants, most notably, a damaged housewife (Stockard Channing) who is being physically abused by her husband (Arliss Howard). Not to mention the ridiculous notion that, upon their initial arrival in town, these people actually think these three queens are really women. We learn some knew all along and some didn't, but the rallying around them during the finale is just a little too pat and convenient.
Swayze beautifully underplays as the damaged Vita and Wesley Snipes is a lot of fun as Noxema (even if he is the ugliest drag queen EVER). John Leguizamo steals every scene he's in as the hypersensitive Chi Chi and it was hard watching a powerhouse actress like Stockard Channing playing a victim. The late Christopher Penn has some funny moments as a cop whose memorable encounter with Miss Vida makes him the villain of the piece. The film features three terrific lead characters, I just wish the writer and director had come up with a better story for them.
Despite a memorable title and a trio of sparkling performances in the lead roles, a 1995 tale of bigotry and tolerance called To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar doesn't really provide the same kind of originality as the title.
The late Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes. and John Leguizamo took real career risks when they accepted the roles of three drag queens who embark on a cross country car trip to Hollywood who find themselves stranded in a one horse redneck town one weekend when their car breaks down.
My second viewing of this film reveals that it doesn't hold up as well as I had hoped. Douglas Carter Beane's screenplay provides some education regarding tolerance and what causes a man to abandon shirts and pants in favor of panty hose and padded bras on a daily basis. This is beautifully illustrated in the opening scenes that show Vida Boheme (Swayze) and Noxema Jackson (Snipes) leave behind the hetero world and become the queens that they are.
Sadly, the story begins to fall apart as our three heroines arrive in this little town and have this Pied Piper effect on the inhabitants, most notably, a damaged housewife (Stockard Channing) who is being physically abused by her husband (Arliss Howard). Not to mention the ridiculous notion that, upon their initial arrival in town, these people actually think these three queens are really women. We learn some knew all along and some didn't, but the rallying around them during the finale is just a little too pat and convenient.
Swayze beautifully underplays as the damaged Vita and Wesley Snipes is a lot of fun as Noxema (even if he is the ugliest drag queen EVER). John Leguizamo steals every scene he's in as the hypersensitive Chi Chi and it was hard watching a powerhouse actress like Stockard Channing playing a victim. The late Christopher Penn has some funny moments as a cop whose memorable encounter with Miss Vida makes him the villain of the piece. The film features three terrific lead characters, I just wish the writer and director had come up with a better story for them.