FILM REVIEWS

A sketch, overestended to the limits of feature-length, “Cecil B. Demented” is one of John Waters’ weakest, trivial, and silly comedies.

Some critics felt that Waters was biting the hand that feeds him in this mildly humorous look at the underside of the film industry.

Themajor asset of this wannabe, strcurally messy satire is its gifted cast, composed of many first-timers for Waters: Melanie Griffith, Alicia Witt, Maggie Gyllenhaal.

The then hot actor Stephen Dorff stars as aelf-styled guerrilla filmmaker Cecil, who leads a Baltimore moviemaking collective-street gang named the Sprocket Holes, which includes Cecil’s girlfriend and favorite leading lady, a low-rent porn actress named Cherish Oh Lordy (Alicia Witt).

Desperate for attention, the group kidnaps famous Hollywood actress Honey Whitlock (Melanie Griffith, parodying her screen image) during a Baltimore publicity stop and then force her at gunpoint to star in their latest production, Raving Beauty.

Before long, Honey comes down with a severe case of Stockholm syndrome, joining forces with the Sprocket Holes in their goal to destroy the mainstream film industry by fighting everything that’s homogeized and boring about its product.

Ricki Lake, Patty Hearst, and Mink Stole, all Waters regulars, highlight the supporting cast, Techno star Moby contributes to the soundtrack.

Too bad that after the first reel, the comedy, which is extremely contrived and hermetically sealed, runs out of ideas, energy, and steam.

Dismissed by most reviewers, the film was not just an artistic but also a commercial failure.

Credits

Artisan Entertainment
Running time: 90 Minutes.
Directed and written by John Waters