My Review of Cry-Baby (1990)

 

Written And Directed by John Waters 

Cry-Baby (to Mrs. Vernon-Williams): "I may be a drape, but I love your granddaughter. And if that's a crime, I'll stand convicted, ma'am."

How do you follow up a success of sorts like Hairspray (1988)? For John Waters, it seemed like coming out with another musical focusing on teenagers was the way to go. Throw in a forbidden love story and there was potential for success here.

The 1990s were certainly a decade for Johnny Depp as an actor and he's suitably cast as bad boy teen rebel Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker. Cry-Baby was part of a group called "drapes" and everyone else was a "square" by comparison. 

One square in particular was Allison Vernon-Williams (Amy Locane). It took virtually nothing for Cry-Baby and Allison to fall madly in love with one another. There's some opposition from Allison's grandmother (Polly Bergen) and the boring Baldwin (Stephen Mailer) but Allison's love for Cry-Baby shone throughout.

Allison was happy to get a makeover from Cry-Baby's single mother sister, Pepper (Ricki Lake) and her friends, Wanda (Traci Lords) and Mona (Kim McGuire). There's also Cry-Baby and Pepper's fun grandmother, Ramona Rickettes (Susan Tyrrell) and her fella, Belvedere (Iggy Pop). They're a fun bunch of characters to watch.

Anyways, the love story with Cry-Baby and Allison largely worked, the former had a spell in a boys training school before being set free and we got a game of chicken between Cry-Baby and Baldwin, which in a predictable turn of events the latter ended up losing. On the other hand, at least the drape got the square, so it ended on a rather happy note.

- There's an amusing subplot where one of the female drapes was going to be sent to Sweden as part of a student exchange.

- Mink Stole appeared as Mrs. Malnorowski. She seems to be one of the few constants in John Waters movies.

- Standout music: Women In Cadillacs, A Teenage Prayer, The Naughty Lady Of Shady Lane and Please Mr. Jailer.

- Chronology: 1954 Baltimore. Both Cry-Baby and Allison confessed to being orphans.

Cry-Baby (1990) doesn't quite hit the same way as Hairspray (1988) but it's a solid enough outing for everyone involved. Nice enough musical numbers but somewhat let down by a rather rushed ending.

Rating: 6 out of 10