Drop Dead Gorgeous is an unfortunate entry into the "mockumentary" category made great by Waiting For Guffman and
Spinal Tap. And if you've seen either of those movies (and Best In
Show, which came later), Drop Dead Gorgeous would have to look
amateurish in comparison. DDG borrows heavily from Waiting For
Guffman in particular (both are mock documentaries about a
midwestern small town pageant, with "interviews" with the
townspeople, etc.), but really falls flat on its face because its
sense of humor is so exaggerated and mean spirited.
Because the subject matter (beauty pageants) is so easy to make
fun of, the movie has to be very subtle in order to appear clever.
That's why Waiting For Guffman was funny - the actors appeared
so genuine that the "mocking" hit the target right on. Drop Dead
Gorgeous, on the other hand, tries to hit you over the head with its
too-obvious jokes in every single scene and gets tedious real fast.
You might say that it's unfair to compare the sort-of-legendary
Waiting For Guffman to this movie, but I don't think Drop Dead
Gorgeous could have existed without being influenced by Guffman.
Someone here mentioned that this movie kind of resembles John
Waters' flicks (Pecker, Hairspray, Polyester) because of how over
the top and raunchy they are. I think that could have been a good
possibility if Drop Dead Gorgeous had a better director. The
director here plays all his characters as if they had mental defects,
which is not only mean spirited but juvenile as well. He also has
all the actors shouting their lines in a stilted, super exaggerated,
fake midwestern accent. This is especially obvious in Kirstie Alley,
Kirsten Dunst, and Brittany Murphy's characters. Their accents
definitely didn't resemble anything from the midwest, the south, or
well, anywhere. I mean, if you're gonna make fun of someone's
accent, at least get it right. In the end, the people who made this
movie come out looking more foolish than the people they're trying
to portray, which is quite a feat.
Spinal Tap. And if you've seen either of those movies (and Best In
Show, which came later), Drop Dead Gorgeous would have to look
amateurish in comparison. DDG borrows heavily from Waiting For
Guffman in particular (both are mock documentaries about a
midwestern small town pageant, with "interviews" with the
townspeople, etc.), but really falls flat on its face because its
sense of humor is so exaggerated and mean spirited.
Because the subject matter (beauty pageants) is so easy to make
fun of, the movie has to be very subtle in order to appear clever.
That's why Waiting For Guffman was funny - the actors appeared
so genuine that the "mocking" hit the target right on. Drop Dead
Gorgeous, on the other hand, tries to hit you over the head with its
too-obvious jokes in every single scene and gets tedious real fast.
You might say that it's unfair to compare the sort-of-legendary
Waiting For Guffman to this movie, but I don't think Drop Dead
Gorgeous could have existed without being influenced by Guffman.
Someone here mentioned that this movie kind of resembles John
Waters' flicks (Pecker, Hairspray, Polyester) because of how over
the top and raunchy they are. I think that could have been a good
possibility if Drop Dead Gorgeous had a better director. The
director here plays all his characters as if they had mental defects,
which is not only mean spirited but juvenile as well. He also has
all the actors shouting their lines in a stilted, super exaggerated,
fake midwestern accent. This is especially obvious in Kirstie Alley,
Kirsten Dunst, and Brittany Murphy's characters. Their accents
definitely didn't resemble anything from the midwest, the south, or
well, anywhere. I mean, if you're gonna make fun of someone's
accent, at least get it right. In the end, the people who made this
movie come out looking more foolish than the people they're trying
to portray, which is quite a feat.