Review of Cecil B. Demented (2000) by D M — 12 Mar 2007

[size=3]All you `movie lovers' out there who are the genuine article, prepare to laugh! In `Cecil B. Demented,' famed off-Hollywood filmmaker John Waters has turned his attention to a subject that is obviously near and dear to his heart, and, in fact, near and dear to the hearts of all true lovers of movies everywhere. In his latest wild comedy, he has tackled the seemingly irreconcilable conflict that exists between the worlds of big budget mainstream Hollywood moviemaking and low budget, renegade independent cinema - a conflict that the latter always seems unfairly and unfailingly to lose. Waters certainly knows whereof he speaks - he, himself of course, being one of the great pioneers and icons of the underground film movement. He launched his directorial career and made a name for himself in independent film circles way back in the 1970's with such crude landmark underground classics as `Pink Flamingoes' and `Female Trouble.' Since that time, he has himself received some heat from diehard indie film purists who have considered him something of a sellout for producing offbeat but decidedly more `commercial' works like `Hair Spray,' `Cry Baby' and `Serial Mom, ` often with big name actors and actresses in starring roles. Yet, even with this more polished sheen, Waters' films have always retained that quality of outrageousness and that willingness to push the envelope that distinguish his vision from that of more mainstream filmmakers.

`Cecil B. Demented' is a particularly funny film for those who share Waters' outrage at the mass audience's seeming preference for the bland unoriginality of much of the product churned out by the cinema factory known as Hollywood and its seeming dismissal of the cutting edge experimentation and originality that define so much of independent filmmaking. And he lambastes a money-hungry industry that is all too eager and willing to supply the public with the big budget, special effects-ridden pablum it seems to crave. Waters' clever parody follows a Patty Hearst-type storyline in which a group of bizarre, renegade independent filmmakers kidnap a Hollywood starlet (Melanie Griffith) then force her to star in their reality-based new film which involves them filming themselves as they storm, guns blazing, into theatres that are showing putrid mainstream films, all in a righteous effort to bring commercial cinema to its knees.

`Cecil B. Demented' provides a rapid-fire onslaught of clever inside jokes lampooning both mainstream and independent filmmaking. Although his heart obviously lies with the latter, Waters also can remain objective enough to skewer some of the self-righteous pretentiousness that occasionally creeps into that type of filmmaking as well. In addition to the jokes themselves, Waters provides amusement with his sharply delineated comic characters each of whom satirizes a different aspect of the renegade subculture. We have, for instance, the maniacal, fanatical, single-minded director (delightfully played by Stephen Dorff) who sees himself as nothing less than the messiah sent to destroy commercial filmmaking and erect a cinema based on iconoclasm and originality in its place. We have all his devoted followers who run the gamut from satanists, porn stars, punk rockers, straight hairdressers, gay truck drivers etc. Without question, much of the zestful energy that propels this film forward comes from the dead-on performances of the actors and actresses in these roles.

Energy and originality are in fact the hallmarks of this film from start to finish. `Cecil B. Demented' may not be Waters best film, but all film lovers who have been thinking many of the same thoughts are in for a treat. Though it may go to the extreme at times, the film is funny, yet on the same note it can be quite unfocused and underdeveloped as well. These weaknesses, may blemish the viewing experience of all independent cinema fans but the message and the humor is still intact.[/size].

[size=3]:rotten: 1.5/4 stars[/size].