As with all John Waters films, Cry-Baby – a goofy homage to ‘50s melodramas and musicals crafted in the Grease template – lavishes affection on freaky and misunderstood teenagers living on the outskirts of mainstream American society. In 1952, rockabilly greaser Cry-Baby (Johnny Depp, gently poking fun at his own 21 Jump Street teen idol status as a Wild One-inspired leather-and-Brylcreem stud) falls in love with blonde WASP Allison (Amy Locane), sparking a war between Cry-Baby’s gang of delinquent “drapes” and Alison’s former boyfriend’s group of “squares” For its first half, the film amusingly ridicules preppies, racists, devout religious zealots, and homophobes. Waters, however, seems to lose focus mid-stream, and the ensuing focus away from the zany cartoon characters toward cute musical numbers dilutes much of the film’s manic energy. In the final tally, Cry-Baby successfully works in fits and starts. The opening montage of the high schoolers getting shots cleverly demarcates the drapes (who seem to get a sexual kick from the penetrating injections) from the squares (who grimace throughout the ordeal), and Waters’ casting – including Patty Hearst as an overly cheery homemaker, porn star Traci Lords as a firecracker besieged by her uncool parents, and ‘50s heartthrob Troy Donahue as a disheveled delinquent father – gives the film a wink-wink wittiness. On the other hand, I could have gladly done without Depp’s lackadaisical and momentum-sapping jailhouse rock. But if nothing else, Cry-Baby provides one truly great line when, turned on by his goody-goody girlfriend’s switch to the drape dark side, Cry-Baby tells Allison, “You got it Allison. You got it RAW!”
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