Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)

“[holding up a pistol] My mom gave me this 9-mil for my 13th birthday. Yeah. I’ll always remember what she put on the card, “Jesus Loves Winners”. That’s why no matter what I do, I aim to win.” – Becky Ann Leeman

Number of Times Seen – 1 (27 May 2019)

Brief Synopsis – A mockumentary that chronicles the preparation for a small town teen beauty contest where mysterious things keep happening to the contestants.

My Take on it – This is a film that I heard of when it came out yet never really had much of an interest in seeing what it was all about.

I was recently reminded about it, so I decided to give it a try and see why it’s supposedly very funny.

The idea to make this film as a mockumentary is a great one and they find a way to utilize the medium really well in order to keep things fun and surprising.

I really liked the way that they constantly remind us that we (and the film crew themselves) are just observers of the events as they are taking place and sometimes they use that to keep things quite humorous.

The story works quite well here in the way that they make us believe that everything that we are watching is supposedly truth and the way things progress, it does seem quite plausible which makes it even more enjoyable to watch unfold.

The cast of this film also adds to the ability of making this story more convincing.

Kirsten Dunst, Alison Janney, Denise Richards, Ellen Barkin and Kirstie Alley are all great here and help keep things really fun and in some ways mysterious along the way.

This is a fun film even if it borders on the absurd at certain points since it manages to stay clever.

Bottom Line – Fun film that knows how to utilize the mockumentary medium really well. We are constantly reminded that we are observers of these events (just like the film crew) in order to let things play out. The story works quite well in making us believe that this could possibly really occur which adds so much to things. The cast is quite convincing and Dunst, Janney, Richards, Barkin and Alley are all great here. Lots of fun. Recommended

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – The movie makes multiple references to traditional Minnesota food: The Mount Rose High cafeteria serves lutefisk for lunch, Jell-O salad is served at Tammy’s funeral, and several scenes include people eating and offering “bars,” considered an essential dessert for Minnesota potlucks. (From IMDB)

Rating – Globe Worthy (8/10)