Cheerfully camp, terrifically enjoyable teen parody that ranks among Waters' best moments. Oh, and world -- meet Johnny Depp!
Cry-Baby (1990)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:36
Fresh:30
Rotten:6
Average Rating:6.7/10
Runtime: 1 hr 32 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: Cult director John Waters goes mainstream -- sort of -- in this send-up of 1950s teen melodramas. Heart-throb Johnny Depp stars in the title role as a glamorous delinquent who heads a gang of hoods... Cult director John Waters goes mainstream -- sort of -- in this send-up of 1950s teen melodramas. Heart-throb Johnny Depp stars in the title role as a glamorous delinquent who heads a gang of hoods known as the Drapes. Trouble starts when Cry-Baby falls for a squeaky clean blonde from a rival group, the Squares. Their star-crossed romance sets off a rumble between the warring factions and Cry-Baby ends up doing time in reform school. Chock-full of rock 'n roll and Waters' usual cavalcade of eccentric celebrities, including Patty Hearst, Iggy Pop and former porn star Traci Lords. [More]
Starring: Johnny Depp, Traci Lords, Ricki Lake, Amy Locane
Starring: Johnny Depp, Traci Lords, Ricki Lake, Amy Locane, Susan Tyrrell, Polly Bergen, Iggy Pop
Director: John Waters
Director: John Waters
Reviews for Cry-Baby
Waters' finest film to date, a worthy successor to Hairspray which exudes teen angst and young lust from every pore.
Pink Flamingos fans will find Cry-Baby decidedly tame, but it's one of my favorites.
Waters is just as offbeat as any of his film characters— and he surrounds himself with creative people who wouldn't at all be out of place in a John Waters movie.
It's a satire that functions the same way the stuff it's satirizing does.
Waters' hole card is Johnny Depp, the winsome tough from TV's 21 Jump Street, who radiates big- screen grace and swagger as Cry-Baby -- no easy trick, since he is guying his own image.
If there is one constant in recent social history, it is that we feel nostalgia for yesterday's teenage badness even while we fear today's.
Some of the musical numbers are fun and there are some good gags here and there, but for the most part this one is pretty weak.
Basically the filmmaker reminds us of his affection for social misfits, but without much conviction. He's simply too hip to commit himself to his beliefs, and a relentless frivolity prevails.
Mr. Depp, who smolders naturally when he isn't trying so hard, acts this role about as well as Elvis would have; under the circumstances, that's fine.
John Waters' mischievous satire of the teen exploitation genre is entertaining as a rude joyride through another era, full of great clothes and hairdos.
Everyone is clearly having a ball in Cry-Baby, and one can only imagine what the nightlife was like on the set
The film is high on energy, color and camera movement and, as usual in Waters's world, everything is styled within an inch of its life, capturing all the fun and fever of the 1950s.
Tears for fears? Nah, it's Johnny Depp's. When will this Waters gem be adapted for Broadway?
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