Imagine a weird blend of "This Is Spinal Tap" and "Fargo" and you will have a fairly good read on 1999's "Drop Dead Gorgeous. There is definitely a Coen Brothers feel to the film, which is done in "mockumentary" style and told from the point of view of a film crew investigating the world of local beauty pageants; specifically the Miss Teen Princess contest in Mount Rose, Minnesota.

But it would be a mistake to think that this is just a satire of the beauty pageant world or of folks from Minnesota. The film has much bigger targets, as it pretty much takes on every excess to be found in the competitive culture of modern American. Making it the most subversive comedy since "Dr. Strangelove". It may not have the consistency of Kubrick's masterpiece, but it has a slightly higher comic hit to miss ratio than "Airplane".

Former Miss Teen Princess Gladys Leeman (Kirstie Alley) is in charge of the Mount Rose preliminary, a conflict of interest because her daughter Becky (Denise Richards) (a younger version of her mercenary mother) is a leading contender. After murdering her daughter's only real competition, Gladys targets trailer-park girl Amber (Kirsten Dunst),who hopes to use the contest as a means to follow in the footsteps of her idol Diane Sawyer.

There are so many different types of humor in "Drop Dead Gorgeous" that almost any viewer will find something amusing. But the degree of amusement will be in direct proportion to your degree of irreverence and "nothing sacred" attitudes. So if you are easily offended or are sense of humor challenged you would do well to stay away from this film.

I particularly liked the contestant's dramatic reading from "Soylent Green", and Britney Murphy's line about being conceived because her parents wanted someone who could donate a kidney to her older brother.

Although she only has a small part, Murphy pretty much steals every scene in which she appears. The three big parts (Alley, Richards, and Dunst) are played straight (or with parodied straightness) so most of the comedy comes from the supporting cast; most notably Allison Janney as a trailer park neighbor, Will Sasso as a mentally challenged small businessman, Seiko Matsudo as the resentful biological daughter of an Asian couple who dotes on their adopted Caucasian daughter, and Matt Malloy as a contest judge with a not so secret agenda.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Ellen Barkin is the trailer trash mother of Amber (Kirsten Dunst),Kirstie Alley is the homicidally ambitious mother of Becky (Denise Richards) a spoilt rich bitch. They will stop at nothing to make sure their daughters win the Mount Rose beauty pageant, and i mean nothing.

The whole movie is made in incredibly bad taste and for that reason alone, a lot of people will hate it; but i found it was very refreshing to see a black comedy of this quality for a change. It's wonderfully scripted and directed, and the cast is simply perfect; everyone in it appears to be relishing the humour in the movie and it shows in their performances.

If you like this kind of humour, you will love this, if you don't warm to black comedy then it's best left alone.

8/10 Personally i think its great.

Leonard Maltin hated this movie and instead he recommended watching the movie SMILE (1975). Well, I would say the exact opposite--DROP DEAD GORGEOUS is hilarious (though not exactly subtle) and SMILE is a not particularly good comedy (though it was original).

As I said above, the movie wasn't subtle but a very silly and completely over-the-top look at Junior Miss-type pageants.

Ellen Barkin does a great job of playing "trailer trash" and Kirstie Alley plays the rich broad who feels she IS the pageant. Both actresses were not particular favorites of mine, but this movie helped changed my opinion as they did great jobs and really stayed in character.

Kirsten Dunst and Denise Richards headlined the small cast of girls competing for the local Minnesota pageant--the winner of which will go to the state championship. What happens along the way has got to be seen to be believed! If I told you in this review, it would reveal too much.

This movie is strongly recommended if you just want a good laugh. If you want cerebral comedy, this is not it! The only negative is the very strong language, so parents are recommended to consider this before showing it to younger kids.