Cry-Baby: Director's Cut DVD Review:

Who would ever believe that the infamous John Waters once made a film which was actually rated PG-13. However unbelievable it may be, when Waters was making the studio film Cry-Baby it was in his contract to make certain the film was PG-13 although it easily could have been R before cuts were made. Although some of the material which was cut has been sporadically released in some of the television versions, none of it was released in a way which Waters had intended. Until now. Finally Cry-Baby has been released on DVD in all of its glory as the film which broke Johnny Depp out of his teen idol rut on 21 Jump Street and catapulted him into the world of experimental film. Although this may be seen as one of Waters’ safest films, it is still a circus of bizarre characters and strange musical numbers.

Johnny Depp is Wade “Cry-Baby” Walker, the toughest bad boy in high school who has set out to win over a girl from the other side of the tracks. Cry-Baby has his nickname from his ability to cry a single tear, which Depp does with soulful eyes many times in the film. This rockabilly musical mixes a classic story with the strange style of Waters. With Susan Tyrrell and Iggy Pop as Cry-Baby’s parents and Ricky Lake as his extremely pregnant sister, this cast is as bizarre as the film. Throw in Tracie Lords straight out of her underage porno mishap and you’ve got the makings of a film holding the spirit of Waters, PG-13 rating or not.

Although the film takes place in 1954 and it resembles musicals like Grease, this is in another field completely. There are all sorts of oddities and strange scenes, making the film a silly and yet fun ride. Some of the musical numbers may seem over the top, but that is intentionally done to recreate classic musical numbers in a stylized fashion.

The director’s cut features more of the footage which was cut, and the infamous bleeps which were placed over the F word in a running joke were taken off, allowing the joke to be heard the way it was meant to be for the first time. Mostly there is just more of the same great stuff, with a few odd obscene images thrown back in.

The DVD has a fantastic cover that is mocking the kind of film that Cry-Baby is based off of, but it may be somewhat deceptive to those who don’t understand what a John Waters film is. There are also a few great special features. Although there are only three, don’t be deceived, because these three are far better than many DVDs which claim dozens. The deleted scenes are about as exciting as they always are, but the “It Came from Baltimore” featurette is fantastic. It is over forty-five minutes long and features comments by nearly everyone in the cast and crew about all sorts of occurrences on set. The last feature is the director’s commentary, which is definitely R-rated, regardless of the rating that the film originally received.



Ryan Izay