Themes: Women's Friendship, Journey of Self-Discovery, Wanderlust
Main Cast: Uma Thurman, John Hurt, Rain Phoenix, Noriyuki "Pat" Morita, Lorraine Bracco
Release Year: 1994
Country: US
Run Time: 100 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Writer/director Gus Van Sant's early bid for big-time commercial success -- a success he didn't manage to achieve until Good Will Hunting -- is based on Tom Robbins' 1976 feminist bestseller. Uma Thurman plays Sissy Hankshaw, a woman born with very large thumbs. After her parents (Grace Zabriskie and Ken Kesey) take her to a doctor (Buck Henry), who offers her parents no remedy for their daughter's condition, the film races ahead to the 1970s. Sissy is now a popular feminine hygiene spray model for a product called Yoni Yum, the product of a company owned by The Countess (John Hurt in drag). Sissy travels to the Rubber Rose beauty ranch, also owned by The Countess, to shoot a Yoni Yum commercial. At the ranch, she makes the acquaintance of the inscrutable Chink (Pat Morita) and Bonanza Jellybean (Rain Phoenix). But under the nose of The Countess, the cowgirls on the ranch are talking mutiny, with the women trying to liberate the Rubber Rose Ranch from the chains of patriarchal oppression. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Beatrix Aruna Pasztor - Costume Designer, Gus Van Sant - Director, Curtiss Clayton - Editor, k.d. lang - Composer (Music Score), John McCarthy - Composer (Music Score), Ben Mink - Composer (Music Score), Daniel Self - Production Designer, Missy Stewart - Production Designer, Eric Alan Edwards - Cinematographer, John J. Campbell - Cinematographer, Laurie Parker - Producer, Gus Van Sant - Producer, Jim Doyle - Special Effects, Gus Van Sant - Screenwriter, Anne Gordon - Animal Trainer/Wrangler, Tom Robbins - Book Author
The movie was a critical and commercial failure. After its world premiere in September 1993 at the Toronto Film Festival, the movie was set to open, but due to the incredibly negative response, the film was delayed for more editing. The United Stateswide release was May 20, 1994.
"Hanky Panky" • "Rose Garden" • "Tune into My Wave" • "Crying" • "Honky Tonk Angels Medley" (w/ Brenda Lee, Loretta Lynn, and Kitty Wells) • "I'm Down to My Last Cigarette" • "Lock, Stock, and Teardrops" • "Full Moon Full of Love" • "Three Days" • "Luck in My Eyes" • "Big Boned Gal" • "Pulling Back the Reins" • "Trail of Broken Hearts" • "Ridin' the Rails" • "Constant Craving" • "Calling All Angels" (w/ Jane Siberry) • "Miss Chatelaine" • "The Mind of Love" • "Just Keep Me Moving" • "Hush Sweet Lover" • "Lifted by Love" • "If I Were You" • "You're Okay" • "Sexuality" • "The Joker" • "Theme from the Valley of the Dolls" • "Fado Hilario" • "Anywhere But Here" • "Summerfling" • "The Consequences of Falling" • "Helpless" • "I Dream of Spring"
