Directed by Michael Patrick Jann

Drop Dead Gorgeous is one of the few ?black comedies? that I can actually admit to getting a laugh out of. The film revolves around the Mount Rose American Teen Princess Pageant and the girls vying for this prestigious title. It takes the form of a documentary. There?s a Los Angeles film crew interviewing many of the major players for the cameras.

One of the entrants Amber Atkins (Kirsten Dunst) is a hair and make up artist for the deceased whose talent is tap dancing. Her main rival is Becky Leeman (Denise Richards), a member of her school?s gun club and who also happens to be the daughter of the pageant?s organizer, Gladys (Kirstie Alley). However, this pageant has a dark side, it?s not all rosy in Mount Rose after all. The reigning winner is hospitalized with anorexia and one of the contestants is blown up in a farming accident. One of Amber?s admirers is mysteriously killed in a ?hunting incident?, shot right between the eyes, and with Becky such a good aim with a rifle. What a coincidence!

Amber?s Mom, Annette (Ellen Barkin) is typical trailer trash and was herself an entrant in the pageant many years ago. She lives her life through her daughter and she is the real person behind Amber?s entry into the pageant. She smokes like a chimney and like so many of the town folk falls victim to an accident when her trailer burns down. She survives with a beer can burnt into her hand. What a woman!!

Many of the other remaining entrants are quite quirky and there are plenty of laughs to be had when they discuss their lives for the cameras or when they perform their talent for the judges. The judges are quite a weird mob as well. One of them, John Dough, is a little too pervy for my liking and just wants to stare at all the girls. As the Pageant gets underway there are many attempts to sabotage many of the contestants, one gets hits on the head by a falling light and Amber?s tap costume goes missing.

Amber is the stand out performer in the talent section but is that enough to win her the prize, of course not when the pageant is obviously rigged for Becky to win it. Well all is not lost, as Becky is set to get her just desserts during the pageant parade and Amber gets to represent her little town in the Minnesota State Finals. Will she be successful, at the state level, well you will have to just watch the movie to see.

Drop Dead Gorgeous is one of the best ?pageant? films and is much funnier than Miss Congeniality in my opinion. It shows all the back stabbing and bitchiness that goes on back stage and the filmmakers would have had their tongues planted firmly in their cheeks when they made this movie. I don?t know how successful this film was at the Australian Box Office but I would imagine that it wouldn?t have appealed to everybody. It is not really a film you need a big screen to appreciate either so may have had more success when released on video.

I felt that the film lost it?s way once the Mount Rose Pageant concluded and a lot of the laughs dried up. Kirstie Alley?s performance was too over the top as usual and it is not surprising that her film offers have declined (putting on all those pounds certainly didn?t help her cause either particularly in image conscious Hollywood). Kirsten Dunst continued to prove how versatile an actress she is while Denise Richards again proved that her acting skills are somewhat limited.

Drop Dead Gorgeous would probably appeal to teenagers and people that can get a laugh at the pain and suffering of others. The script is well written and has some wonderful ?one liners? scattered throughout the 94 minutes the film runs for. The film is also worth a watch if you want to see a young Brittany Murphy before she received her ?Hollywood makeover?.

Overall, Drop Dead Gorgeous would have to be one of the few films where laughs are guaranteed by a movie with dead in its title. It is also a film that proved to me that black comedies and laughs do actually go together.

THE EXTRAS

The only extras are Scene Selection (only 14 scenes to choose from) and a Theatrical Trailer. I felt that at least some of the deleted scenes could have been included.

CONCLUSION

Drop Dead Gorgeous is basically a tale of good versus evil and a beauty pageant. The good is Amber Atkins (Kirsten Dunst), a tap-dancing all American girl, the bad is Becky Leeman (Denise Richards). Becky is also the pageant?s organizers daughter, played by Kirstie Alley, and she will stop at nothing to win the Mount Rose American Teen Princess Pageant even if that means sabotage, arson and even murder. The film has a witty script where most of the laughs come from the antics of the contestants and the interviews they contribute to a film crew who are producing a documentary on the whole pageant scene. This film has given me renewed hope that there must be some other good ?black comedies? out there and that you can actually get a chuckle from them, something I rarely achieved before seeing this film.