Just perfect...

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Basically, this is a "mockumentary" style film. Kirstin is the protagonist, living with her mother (Ellen) in a mobile home. When the documentary team approaches a neighbor asks if they're on "Cops," again. It just gets better and better. It just has layers and layers of crazy, and stupid, and hick, and silly, small-town nonsense wrapped in more and more of the same. Denise Richards is priceless as is Brittany Murphy. From start to finish, it giggle, after chuckle, after out-right guffaws. The mix of small town realities with the desire to escape the anonymity of small town life is what leads all the characters to engage in every part of the "beauty pageant." The pageant has almost nothing to do with the movie plot.

The Spoiler flag relates to the politics of the second half of this comment. I find that I have several DVDs about beauty contests and this 1999 is the earliest and also the one with the lowest quality. Except I still find it rather watchable. An empty 'Gracie Lou Freebush' story (Miss Congeniality) that is very easy to watch. But there is more to it than that. The other stories I have are Miss Congeniality (2000) and Little Miss Sunshine (2006) and episode 2-29 of iCarly disk sets, iWas A Pageant Girl (2010). They all have bits of detail in common with DDG, I found it easy to get the impression that they were all looking to this particular story, but the common factor is likely to be elsewhere. These three also have a certain quality. This also has Brittany Murphy in one of the supporting roles, a contestant, and some will want to watch this just because of that. The cast list can please fans of some others, too. It is still an empty story, but that is not because of the cast and not because of lack of fun detail in the script. * The scrambled nature of the people who populate the world of Drop Dead Gorgeous. It reminds me of what is implied by the story of Donnie Darko, my title of Jim Fixed It comes partly from that. There is not a straight parallel between these stories, but they do have common links. The Chumscrubber (2005) talks about the USA. England has some of that disorder, too. October 2012, the UK has been inundated with horror revelations about another Jim. To write anything to support that particular Jim is to risk life and limb, but the bits that I have noticed make me consider him to be a victim, just as much as any of the characters in Donnie or this feature. Some bits I have read are just simple statements of UK Jim's actions, without actual detail of the actions, and these read like horror, the actions of a really bad guy. When if goes into detail, though, I am reminded of the cures that Tony Blair Witch equivalents have always pointed at the weak. The actions of UK Jim remind me of some of the side effects of this sort of popular field sport. Other actions of UK Jim tell me that he used to be considered as deserving, he got kicked in a way that the deserving grade of inept big babies get kicked, hard knock life. The October 2012 stories are people noticing these side effects and now considering him as meriting being kicked in the way that the undeserving get kicked. The UK Jim should be grateful that he is now physically dead. Drop Dead Gorgeous, if it is an empty 'Gracie Lou Freebush' story, I find it to be about the real world.

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/

This movie always makes me laugh until I'm in tears. My favorite comedy of all time The jokes don't spare anybody in this film. It's an equal opportunity mock fest.The mid-west accents, religious lifestyle one ups man-ship, small town politics, class warfare pettiness, the mundane social life highlights of the VFW, hunting season, funeral buffets, town parades where even the clowns are smoking on the job, are hilarious.This movie has well done comedic timing and the jokes keep rolling along whether seeing the previous queen wheelchair dance with help from her anorexia hospital ward nurse, dog barking talent segments, bizarre monologue interpretations to Soylent Green, sign language dance numbers, back stabbing stage moms, to creepy judges, all facets of pageant life is shown. For those who despise warped humor this film is not for you but for viewers who love to never take life too seriously this movie is great.