If you like show tunes and
drag shows, you'll like this movie. It makes the list because Chicago airport
lounge performers Connie (Nia Vardalos) and Carla (Toni Collette, The Hours)
need to leave town in a hurry. They hit LA and find success in the ultimate dinner
theater, drag shows. So they're women pretending to be men dressed as women. But
this is no Victor Victoria. There are a few laughs, but fewer than expected, and
the girls are pointedly straight. One of the most interesting parts of the movie
is seeing Jeff (David Duchovny), the brother of one of the real queens, coming
to terms with his brother's queerness. He struggles when brother Robert tells
him that "you can't pick and choose the parts of me that don't make you sick
to your stomach." When Jeff's girlfriend calls his brother and friends "freaks,"
Jeff wavers, but dumps the girlfriend and comes around to acceptance. He and Connie
end up together in the end, in part because he also accepts her for who she is
and the dreams she holds. Some nice messages for a mainstream movie.
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