Drop Dead Gorgeous 1999 Dvdrip Download
Francoise Witsell
Drop Dead Gorgeous is a 1999 American satirical mockumentary black comedy film directed by Michael Patrick Jann and written by Lona Williams. It stars Kirsten Dunst, Ellen Barkin, Brittany Murphy, Allison Janney, Denise Richards, Kirstie Alley, and Amy Adams in her film debut. The film follows a small town beauty pageant and the fierce, deadly lengths the contestants will take to secure the crown.
In 1995, the small, conservative town of Mount Rose, Minnesota, is preparing for the annual Sarah Rose Cosmetics American Teen Princess Pageant. A film crew is in town to document the pageant and its lead-up. One of the interviewees is 17-year old Amber Atkins, who signs up for the pageant in the hopes of winning a college scholarship and following in the footsteps of her idol Diane Sawyer.
On the night of the pageant, Amber's dance costume disappears. She accuses Becky of stealing it and they have a catfight backstage. Pageant choreographer Chloris Klinghagen gives Amber a new costume; however, organizer Iris Clark says she can't perform as the new costume was not approved weeks ago. Amber's fellow contestant, Lisa Swenson, takes pity on her and drops out to give her an approved costume. Amber is able to perform her tap dance number and receives a standing ovation. For her performance, Becky sings "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" while dancing with a life-sized Jesus doll on a crucifix, which amuses and horrifies the audience.
The movie is set in the fictional town of Mount Rose, Minnesota, which in turn is based on Rosemount where writer Lona Williams grew up. The film was originally titled "Dairy Queens" but was changed for legal reasons.[1]
The characters in the movie all sport exaggerated, over-the-top parodies of Minnesota accents.[2] The film was shot throughout the Carver County area, mainly in Waconia, Minnesota,[3] although names of real Minnesota communities were shown on the sashes of contestants later in the movie.
News reporter Diane Sawyer is mentioned throughout the film as Kirsten Dunst's character Amber Atkins's idol, as Sawyer was a former beauty pageant winner. Amber's other idols include her beauty pageant mother who raised her alone in a trailer park, and the previous year's pageant winner who is hospitalized for anorexia. Competing in the beauty pageant for a scholarship is juxtaposed against the opportunities that boys have in leaving Mount Rose, such as hockey scholarships and prison.[4]
Two Melissa Manchester songs are featured in the film as songs used in the talent portion by contestants. Mary lip-syncs "Don't Cry Out Loud", while Jenelle sings and signs "Through the Eyes of Love". Fanfare for the Common Man is played to introduce the parade for the rigged competition and the plight of Hank.[5]
The film received mostly mixed reviews. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 47% of 74 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.5/10. The website's consensus reads: "Its dark humor sometimes hits, but mostly misses the target."[6] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 28 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.[7]
Allison Janney and Denise Richards in particular received praise for their performances from a number of critics.[8][9] Dennis Harvey of Variety called the film "a fitfully amusing satire that would have gained a lot of mileage from just a tad more subtlety."[10] Harvey said the writing is not sophisticated enough to pull off the some of the jokes without being condescending. He otherwise praised the pacing, the performances, and the clever visual casting.[10] Roger Ebert liked the idea of the film, but wrote that the script failed to translate to the screen and was not funny enough, due to subtle miscalculations of production and performance.[11]Jeff Vice of the Deseret News criticized the film for being derivative, comparing it to the 1975 pageant comedy Smile, the 1996 film Fargo, and the mockumentary Waiting for Guffman.[12] Entertainment Weekly gave the film a D grade, and compared the film unfavorably to Smile and The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom.[13][10]
The film has gained new fans with time and is regarded as a cult film. In 2011, Allison Janney stated that she is approached by more fans of this film than for her Emmy-winning tenure on The West Wing.[15]
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