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Cast
Gladys Leeman (Kirstie Alley)
Annette (Ellen Barkin)
Amber (Kirsten Dunst)
Becky Leeman (Denise Richards)
Lisa Swenson (Brittany Murphy)
Loretta (Allison Janey)
Directed
by Michael Jean Patrick Written by Lona Williams
Rated PG-13 for crude humor, some sexual material, and language
Running Time: 97 minutes Distributed by New Line Cinema
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Dead Gorgeous is a dumb comedy that tries but doesn't achieve
with successful dark humor like Fargo or Serial Mom. The story
follows a beauty pageant held in a little country town, Mount
Rose, Minnesota. The film is shot like a documentary with
the cameraman's point of view, along with interviews with
the contestants, their parents, and the judges of the pageant.
The two leading ladies are Amber (Dunst), a country trailer
park girl whose hero is Diane Sawyer, and Becky (Richards),
a rich and typical fake high school bitch who's high on herself.
Both are highly persuaded by their mothers. Amber's mom Annette,
(Barkin), is alcoholic trash that ends up with a beer can
for a hand for most of the movie, while Becky's mom, Gladys
(Alley), is totally obsessed with the pageant and will do
anything to have her daughter win. The pageant brings out
the greed within Becky and her mom, which makes Amber out
to be the likable underdog. The writing in this film is something
of a fresh dark comedy, but I didn't care for it. It was like
a mix of other dark comedies thrown in a blender with a beauty
pageant and documentary set as a backdrop. There are many
characters here that I seen before. Such as Gladys, who is
the almost the same character that Kathleen Turner portrayed
in Serial Mom. The best character in the film was Loretta
(Janey), she portrayed, a pure dumb, horny, middle-aged woman.
The
acting by Kirsten Dunst was respectable, but I think she should
choose better roles, maybe drama where her acting can really
shine. Kirstie Alley and Ellen Barkin are decent as the two
obsessive, stressed-out, middle-aged mothers. The worst acting
was by Denise Richards, who just sucks. In my opinion, Denise
Richards is one of the poorest actresses in Hollywood. The
reason she is getting scripts is the same reason why Pamela
Anderson Lee and Jenny McCarthy got scripts for a little while-their
looks. Your looks do not make you a good actress. However,
the best acting is by Allison Janey who plays Loretta. Janey
is just so believable as the crazy character of Loretta. Janey
has been mostly a supporting actress in Hollywood, and her
previous credits include Primary Colors and 10 Things I Hate
About You.
I
just didn't like this film. It was something different with
its documentary style direction, but I didn’t like the dark
humor. I found it to be a runoff of other good dark comedies.
Report
Card Grade: D
Beastman's
Movie Reviews
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