Main Cast: Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze, John Leguizamo, Stockard Channing, Blythe Danner
Release Year: 1995
Country: US
Run Time: 108 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Patrick Swayze plays Vida Boheme, a classy and long-reigning drag queen. With his understudy Noxeema Jackson (Wesley Snipes), Vida wins a New York drag stage contest and an all-expenses-paid trip to Hollywood. But when Miss Chi Chi Rodriguez (John Leguizamo) cries at having lost the contest, soft-hearted Vida cashes in the airline tickets so the three of them can take a car out West. The film becomes a strange sort of buddy road movie, with the three cross-dressers traveling across the American heartland in a shiny yellow Cadillac. First they tangle with Sheriff Dollard (Chris Penn). He stops them for a minor traffic violation, puts the moves on Vida, and Vida knocks him out, so they flee. Later, they are stranded by car problems in a small town in Nebraska. Renting a room in a hotel, they put some life into the town and its annual strawberry festival. They provide a mousy local woman, Carol Ann (Stockard Channing), with new role models of assertiveness. They also insist on chivalrous treatment from the local good old boys and give lessons on courting to a teenage girl. This film was released on the heels of the more outrageous Australian film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, which featured Terence Stamp as a drag queen. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
Review
Men dressing in women's clothing has long been an axiom of comedy, and the trio of drag queens in Beeban Kidron's breezy comedy mines that basic fact for all it's worth. The script sends the unlikely queens, played by Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze, and John Leguizamo, on a trip across the American heartland, where they encounter a number of people unfamiliar with their lifestyle choice. The comedy takes a fanciful turn, when, after being stranded in a small town in Nebraska, the drag crew, as if by magic, begins to reform the bad manners of the local men and improve the personal lives of some of the women, assimilating with amazing speed. Also fanciful is the film's decision to skirt the issue of the trio's sex lives, which might not have seemed so amusing to some viewers. In general, the three principals are so committed to their roles and queen it up with so much attitude, that it's impossible not to be entertained. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide
Robert Guerra - Art Director, Kerry Barden - Casting, Billy Hopkins - Casting, Suzanne Smith - Casting, Marlene Stewart - Costume Designer, Barry K. Thomas - First Assistant Director, Randy Fletcher - First Assistant Director, H.H. Cooper - First Assistant Director, Beeban Kidron - Director, Andrew Mondshein - Editor, Bruce Cohen - Executive Producer, Rachel Portman - Composer (Music Score), Michael Barosky - Musical Direction/Supervision, Rachel Portman - Songwriter, J. Roy Helland - Makeup, Wynn P. Thomas - Production Designer, Steve Mason - Cinematographer, Ted Glass - Set Designer, Marlene Stewart - Set Designer, Douglas Carter Beane - Screenwriter
After entering a local "drag queen of the year" contest in New York City, Noxeema Jackson (Wesley Snipes) and Vida Boheme (Patrick Swayze) win a trip to Hollywood to take part in an even bigger, national drag queen contest. Before they depart, Vida persuades Noxeema to take along the inexperienced 'drag princess' Chi-Chi Rodriguez (John Leguizamo) as their protégé (the duo initially refer to Chi-Chi simply as a "boy in a dress" rather than as a fully-fledged drag queen). To do this, they trade in their airplane tickets for cash and buy a stylish but old Cadillac convertible with money given to them by John Jacob (Robin Williams) and the three of them set off for Los Angeles by car.
While on the road they are pulled over by the homophobic and racist Sheriff Dollard (Chris Penn), who tries to force himself onto Vida. He discovers Vida is not female and, in the commotion, Dollard falls backwards and is knocked unconscious. The trio think he is dead, and they hurry off and leave him behind. While recovering from the incident at a rest stop, their car breaks down. A young man, Bobby Ray (Jason London), from the nearby small town of Snydersville happens by and gives them a ride, where they take refuge in a bed & breakfast owned by Carol Ann (Stockard Channing) and her abusive car repairman husband, Virgil (Arliss Howard).
The drag queens become stranded in the town for the weekend as they wait for the replacement spare part for their car to arrive. Whilst there, they are confronted by the town's small-mindedness, though none of it centers on their gender as everyone believes them to be female. Chi-Chi is harassed by a group of roughnecks, but is saved by Bobby Ray. The drag queens are ecstatic to find vintage fashions from the 1960s in the town's clothing store, and give the town's female residents (and themselves) a make-over.
Following their make-over, the group are disrespected by the same roughnecks that attempted to attack Chi-Chi. Fed up, Noxeema handles the situation in a typically New York manner and teaches their ringleader a lesson in manners. Vida, Noxeema, and Chi-Chi do what they can to be positive and they set out to improve the lives of the townspeople, including offering assistance in organizing the annual "Strawberry Social" event.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Dollard is ridiculed by his colleagues, who believe he was beat up by a girl. He goes in search of the drag queens and makes a list of places to look (entitled "Places for Homos"), which reads:
Vida, meanwhile, becomes acutely aware of Carol Ann's abuse at the hands of her husband Virgil and, shortly thereafter, the three queens overhear Virgil giving Carol Ann another beating. Vida decides to intervene and beats up Virgil before throwing him out of the house. The next day Virgil runs into Sheriff Dollard at a bar and the two realize that the newcomers to town are the same people Dollard has been searching for. They head back to Snydersville and Dollard insists the townspeople turn over the drag queens.
However, the townspeople, who now realize the true gender of their new friends, begin to protect them. One by one they step up and confront Dollard, each one claiming to be a drag queen, a la Spartacus. Dollard is humiliated and flees. The Strawberry Social commences with everybody dressed in vibrant red outfits for the party. Shortly after, Carol Ann repairs their car and the three queens are finally able to leave Snydersville, though they are now slightly saddened to leave behind their new friends. They eventually make it to Los Angeles where Chi-Chi, after having received many tips from Vida and Noxeema during their ordeal, wins the title of Drag Queen of the Year. Fittingly, the crown is presented by Julie Newmar herself.
Swayze and Leguizamo earned Golden Globe Award nominations for "Best Actor" and "Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical" respectively.
On the set
Miss Understood
The opening and closing scenes were filmed in New York City featuring dozens of New York's local drag performers and underground stars in small roles or as featured extras. Included in the mix were RuPaul, Joey Arias, Lady Bunny, Miss Understood, Candis Cayne, Flotilla DeBarge, Clinton Leupp a.k.a. Miss Coco Peru, and Quentin Crisp. The three stars had previously spent some time in the local drag scene while researching their roles. The ending scene of the movie, the anticipated Miss Drag Queen USA contest, was filmed at The John S. Phipps Estate in Old Westbury, New York, now colloquially known as Old Westbury Gardens. Much of the rest of the film was shot in Loma, Nebraska, as well as nearby Lincoln and Omaha.
Robin Williams also has a cameo early in the film as the queens' friend John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. Julie Newmar, an iconic figure to the main characters, also makes a cameo appearance as does supermodel Naomi Campbell, although it is not clear whether the latter is playing herself or not.
