Cry-Baby [M]

Allison Vernon-Williams has everything. She’s rich, she’s pretty, and she has a jazz-singing “square” heartthrob for a boyfriend. However, Allison is tired of being good and she soon discovers that she has an uncontrollable pull towards Wade “Cry-Baby” Walker, the dreamy juvenile delinquent that all the girls want. 

I was introduced to this film by a lovely high school friend of mine who had a more powerful Johnny Depp crush than I had, so when I came across this movie at a bargain price, from her rave reviews about it, I simply had to buy myself a copy even though I’d never seen it before. I would like to proudly say that I have never regretted that decision. This movie is the John Waters alternative to Grease. It’s filled with music, greasers, squares, motorcycles, romance, action, and fun. It’s an absolutely fantastic film! 

Allison Vernon-Williams has everything. She’s rich, she’s pretty, and she has a jazz-singing heartthrob for a boyfriend. However, Allison is tired of being good and she soon discovers that she has an uncontrollable pull towards Wade “Cry-Baby” Walker, the juvenile delinquent that all the girls want. Cry-Baby feels a natural pull towards Allison too, and the two go on a date. However, the date turns bad when the police show up to break up a brawl that was started by a bunch of Squares and Cry-Baby is falsely accused and sentenced to imprisonment until he’s 21. Conflicted by her emotions for both her boyfriend and Cry-Baby, will Allison stand up and fight for Cry-Baby’s freedom? 

This is a brilliant film! It must first be said that it’s a musical, but not a musical like Grease or The Producers or anything like that. It’s not set up like a Broadway show or anything, there are just occasional songs thrown into the piece that keep the movie moving forward. 

It must also be said at this point, sad though it is, that it is not Johnny Depp singing these Elvis-like, rockabilly songs. I’m sorry to rain on anyone’s parade, but the actors are lip-syncing the songs that make up the “musical” numbers in this film. BUT, and this is a big but, when you think about it, that’s what makes the performances really great. It really does look like they’re singing. It’s not just moving the mouth and everything, you can actually see the muscles in their throats working. It’s brilliant. 

Johnny Depp stars as Wade “Cry-Baby” Walker and he was too gorgeous. Every time I watch this movie Johnny just sends me into a heaving swoon and it is really, really hard to recover. In Cry-Baby, he delivered a performance that was intimidating, charming, defiant, protective, and incredibly romantic. Any woman, or man for that matter, who does not fall in love with Johnny in this movie should be shot. He is just TOO GORGEOUS!!! 

Another thing that made this movie so brilliant was the interesting cast. The film stars Johnny Depp, Ricki Lake, Amy Locane, Susan Tyrell, Polly Bergen, Iggy Pop, Traci Lords, Kim McGuire, Darren E. Burrows, Stephen Mailer, Mink Stole, Troy Donahue, Patricia Hearst, David Nelson, and Willem DaFoe. Cry-Baby was a fantastic film filled with romance, Greasers, Squares, action, brawls, music, and fun. I absolutely LOVE it and am proud to have it in my collection!!!