Cry Baby 4K review by Bobby Blakey
Director John Waters is easily one of the most unique filmmakers of our time with films including Pink Flamingos, Hairspray, Serial Mom, Cecil B. Demented and more. In 1990 he brought a young Johnny Depp into his world for the film Cry-Baby co-starring Ricki Lake, Amy Locane, Susan Tyrell, Polly Bergen, Iggy Pop, Traci Lords, Kim McGuire, and Patricia Hearst.
Cry Baby follows Cry-Baby, an effortlessly cool Greaser, and his Perfecto-clad gang that stir up trouble and break hearts in Baltimore, 1954, with the city's teens split between the refined Squares and the rebellious Drapes. And then, sparks fly when Cry-Baby locks eyes with preppy Allison, enraging her possessive boyfriend. As the Squares conspire to tear them apart, only a few unlikely allies can help Cry-Baby, and his misunderstood crew escape a jail sentence. But when young passion is this powerful, not even the law can stand in the way of true love.
I have a love hate relationship with John Waters films. I love the strangeness of them all and his unique vision, but sadly some of them just don’t work for me. At the same time my love of all things Johnny Depp makes this one more bearable in all its strangeness. If you have never seen it this film plays up like a demented take on Grease with a story all its own, but still very familiar. Like any musical the songs are random and while most of the time they are set into the story itself and their performances.
Waters has always packed in a cast of strange characters and this film is no different with the most notable being Kim McGuire as Hatchet Face who is the most bizarre visually but also the most fun to watch in all her insanity. I think
the reason this film works as all is that Waters knows it is weird, but still takes it seriously to bring his vision to life like only he can. Underneath it all there is still some heart here in the relationship between Cry-Baby and Allison that helps to ground the strange cast and story around them.
As weird as this movie is, it is also pretty normal in a strange way. This new 4K version of the film does look great, but its also a film that doesn’t have a big need to this kind of upgrade. What it does do is get it out and in the forefront for a new generation to discover and hopefully steer more towards some of Waters other films that should be experienced at least once.
Grab your copy of Cry-Baby on 4K for the first time ever available now from Kin Lorber.
For more information head over to https://kinolorber.com.