Cry-Baby (1990)

My Rating: 7/10

Directed by: John Waters
Genre: Comedy, Musical
Runtime: 76 Minutes

Cry-baby mocks the cliché teenage social scene and is actually a very funny and enjoyable movie. This is one of Johnny Depp’s early roles and he did an excellent job in this corny musical comedy. The humour was excellent because of how it poked fun at the typical teenagers and exaggerates things. Film has great characters and a few good songs. Some of the songs are deliberately exaggerated, and the film has a hint of the film Hairspray in it. The 50’s I suppose was the time when the traditional innocent kind of living was broke by rebellious teenagers, from riding motor bikes to wearing leather jackets.

The film takes place during the 1950’s. Meet Cry-baby walker, the cool, hip teenager and ‘rebellious teenager’. This leather jacket wearing cool kid is played by Depp wonderfully as he mocks openly at how teenage Idols are just plain annoying. The film opens with the song ‘Cry-baby’ and we see a middle school with kids getting injections. We see all of Cry-baby’s crew and boy is one of them ugly!  We have the pregnant girl, the ugly one and the 'slutty' one. There are two different sides of Baltimore. The Squares, and The Drapes. Cry-baby is a Drape. He meets a young typical girl who is a square and from there onwards the film is a big hilarious journey.

Depp as 'Cry-baby'.

During the time Depp was seen as a teen Idol on the show 21 Jump Street. Depp didn’t like how he was this because he wanted to rely on his skills to do well in Hollywood rather than his looks. He also did not want to look like a typecast Idol also. In the Johnny Depp biography book I’m reading it said he said ‘I don’t want to rely on my looks to be successful. That’s just the lazy way out’. Well it seems that this role truly was for Depp to give him a chance to do something against the teenage look.

The Characters:

Cry-baby Walker: Depp plays Cry-baby a classic hipster of the teenage world. With this leather jacket and his new fancy motorbike. His nickname is Cry-baby because of his parents’ death which has caused him to do one bad thing each day, but he sheds a tear for it. It’s a strange concept, but bearable.

Alisson: Our antagonist if you will, of the story. The beginning of the film she is seen as a typical popular school girl, but soon has the desire to date one of the squares (Being Cry-baby). Surprisingly, Cry-baby and his rebel pack welcome her into the gang and let her attempt in being ‘bad’. Amy Locane did a great job as Allison, and really brought the character to life.

Hatchet-face: This foul creature from the black lagoon is a friend of Cry-baby in his little crew of rebels. Her name says it all. This character is hilarious because of how she acts. In one scene while trying to get Cry-baby out of prison a bunch of people are watching Creature from the Black Lagoon with 3D glasses on. A great parody because the film did come out in 3D. Then Hatchet-face jumps out which scares the hell out of everyone and they sit and scream on the ground.

Hatchet-face in that very scene.

 Ramona Ricketts: Ramona is the mother of Cry-Baby who is another hilarious character. She’s a hillbilly hard ass mother who loves her children.

Hairspray Theme:

The film feels very Hairspray themed for some reason. Not only because of the time placement, but the atmosphere and characters too. First off, it takes place in Baltimore, same as Hairspray. Pepper also reminds me of Tracey Turnblad in the 2005 version of Hairspray. John Waters, the director of this film, also directed the original 1988 Hairspray. So overall it felt like a very authentic 50’s zone and Watters presented it well.

The Music:

The music in the film is great. Most of the songs where enjoyable and we even have the song ‘Mr Sandman’ in there. My favourite was ‘Please, Mr Jailor!’ It is clear they were all meant to be cliché but that doesn’t stop them being enjoyable. Overall the soundtrack was great and the songs are very catchy.

Overview:

The film has some wonderful and hilarious characters, with it’s funny moments and some of the songs are reasonably enjoyable. My favourite would be ‘Please! Mr Jailer’ Because of how nicely sung it is. The film is pretty short excluding the director’s cut, but for it’s 76 minute (true duration) it is an enjoyable vintage ride. The film isn't initially trying to be anything more than a fun, spoof musical of a film and that's what makes it so pleasant. Overall the film feels very authentic to the 1950’s and is a reasonably bright and entertaining film.

Ratings:

Screenplay/Story: 7.6/10

Characters: 7.7/10

Emotion: 7.2/10

Direction & Cinematography: 7.4/10

Visual & Editing: 7.5/10- Loved the 50's look.

Music: 7.5/10

Overall: 7.5/10