THANKS for "Too Wong Foo..."

Author's Rating:

Pros: the cast, the costumes, the laughs, the wigs, the story

Cons: nothing in my opinion

Author's Review
When I first saw this flashy film, it instantly became a favorite and classic among all my friends (drag queens and non drag queens alike). This picture is an all-out drag road festival with non-stop laughs and cracks from stars John Leguizamo, Wesley Snipes, and Patrick Swayze.

The flick opens in a New York City nightclub where drag queens are pouring from every crevice, all of them watching or participating in the Drag Queen of the Year Pageant. The stage explodes with real life drag stars such as Joey Arias, Flotilla Debarge, Miss Understood, and Coco Peru. The amazing Lady Bunny is in the audience, Chi Chi LaRue hosts, and the winner(s) announced by RuPaul (as last year's winner, Rachael Tensions).

Vida Boheme (Swayze) and Noxeema Jackson (Snipes) are crowned winners in an unexpected and apparently never-before-done tie, and proceed to take hopeful dreamer Chi Chi Rodriguez (Leguizamo) with them to Hollywood for the Drag Queen of America Pageant they are to compete in.

After friend "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt" (Robin Williams) gives them the hook-up for a cheap ride to LA, the trio set out in a huge, huge, yellow '67 Cadillac convertible with animal-print furry seats.

The girls along the way teach miss Chi Chi the fundamentals of being a queen and make a very brief stop in Vida's hometown, where we get a glimpse into Vida's past and family situation (or lack of), until their chariot of sorts breaks down in Snydersville, Nebraska, and they're forced to stay the weekend.

The three vow to make lemonade and get to know the locals, and boy, do they!!! Our patron saints of drag turn up the heat and inject some life into the all but dead town, with "Operation Decorater Storm" to take care of uninhabitable living quarters, a new theme for the residents' lackluster annual social, makeovers (in the attitude AND beauty sense), and helping a battered wife (the ever-classy Stockard Channing) find freedom.

And let's not forget about their run in with a backwoods sheriff (Chris Penn) who instantly sets out to find the "deviant criminals" and bring them to justice.

Of course, for anyone wondering about the long, obscure title of this film: the fab-three take along a picture of Julie Newmar (the ONLY Catwoman) as their sovereign token for the trip.

With great supporting performances by Chris Penn and Blythe Danner, this film is a non-stop laughfest about drag, laughter, friendship, freedom, and being the most fabulous YOU you can be!!!

The movie does a good job of not making this a story about the trip from one drag pageant to another; by the time they leave Snydersville, you've all but forgotten why they were on the road to begin with, so the finale is a great surprise, and full of more unbelievable costumes and wigs.

AND, with all this, we get to see the still stunning Julie Newmar. We also get to have "a day in the life" of these three very different people.
Vida is a soft-hearted, sensitive mother type; Noxy is the wisecracking but big hearted street smart girl, and Chi Chi is a hopeless romantic with big dreams of being utterly fabulous. The chemistry between them is great, and provides a nice mix.

ALSO RECOMMENDED: Flawless (Robert DeNiro, Phillip Seymour Hoffman)
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Terence Stamp)
Stonewall (Guillermo Diaz)
Wigstock: The Movie (Documentary feat. RuPaul, Lady Bunny, Donna Giles, Crystal Waters, etc. about the annual NYC celebration)