Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 9, 1995 TAG: 9509110036
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The famous drag queen RuPaul descends on a trapeze to the runway of a beauty contest. He's wearing a long blond wig and a skintight sequined evening gown emblazoned with the cross and stars of the Confederate battle flag. There it is - an openly homosexual black man dolled up as a woman in the glittering icon cherished by the Ku Klux Klan, unreconstructed Southerners, assorted revisionists and romantics.
The image combines so many conflicting symbols and attitudes in such a garish setting that the rest of the film never quite matches it. But that doesn't really matter because this curious comedy is aimed at a large general audience. It doesn't mean to challenge viewers; it means to reassure them.
Miss Vida Boheme (Patrick Swayze) and Miss Noxeema Jackson (Wesley Snipes) tie for the crown and become New York's representatives to the national drag queen beauty pageant in Hollywood. Taking pity on one loser, ChiChi Rodriguez (John Leguizamo), ``that little Latino boy in a dress," they invite him to accompany them cross country in a Caddy convertible. (The movie title refers to an autographed photograph they take with them.)
In short order, they mistakenly think they've killed a piggish sheriff (Chris Penn), and find themselves stranded in Snydersville, a barren and clueless backwater Midwestern burg. The three ``career girls" then show the benighted rubes how narrow their world is, and open it up to color, life, spontaneity and 1960s fashion statements.
For Hollywood, it's a time-honored plot. The only difference is the sexual orientation and flamboyance of the protagonists. Writer Douglas Carter Beane and director Beeban Kidron fall back on familiar movie conventions to resolve conflicts, and they reduce the drag-queen life to a sharp soundbite: ``When a gay man has way too much fashion sense for one gender, he's a drag queen."
Overall, the three stars seem comfortable with their roles, though Leguizamo seems somehow more than comfortable. The sight of him lounging dishabille in a babydoll dress is enough to give Calvin Klein pause. And that's the question that "To Wong Foo ..." never really deals with.
Seen simply as a feel-good Hollywood comedy, it's undeniably entertaining with bitchy dialogue and some wonderfully funny moments, notably Chris Penn's barroom scene. At the same time, though, should drag queens be turned into good clean family fun? Isn't their defiant sexual rebellion against mainstream sensibilities and expectations part of the game? To make it just another choice - regular or decaf? paper or plastic? - misses the point.
If those questions bother moviegoers, they'll answer at the ticket window. In any case, this one's definitely not for younger viewers.
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar ** 1/2
A Universal release playing at the Grandin and Tanglewood Mall theaters. 108 min. Rated PG-13 for subject matter, strong language.
by CNB