Review of Connie and Carla (2004) by Daniel P — 17 Jun 2007

Borrowing liberally from Sister Act, Victor/Victoria, Some Like It Hot and Thelma & Louise amongst others, Connie And Carla was a lot better, in my opinion of course, than the extremely bad press it got in the UK suggested.

Two friends trying to make it big, but failing, with their cabaret act (they play to a disinterested crowd of jet-lagged individuals at airport lounges), witness a murder, and are discovered doing so, by members of a local mob.

Fearing for their lives, they flee to Los Angeles where they find success with their act by posing as drag queens (which makes them women posing as men dressed as women) at a dwindling gay bar. Inevitably, one of their pair becomes romantically interested in a straight guy, and with their act becoming more successful they risk having their secrets found out and the mob catching up with them.

Things start to fall apart a bit around the time of the cameo appearance of a certain someone (whose shtick was served much better in smaller doses in episodes of Will & Grace), and it seems like the story has nowhere else to go.

The film ends predictably amid much talk of the meaning of being true to oneself, but the happy ending isn't oversold. Toni Collette is good in pretty much everything she does, and I have to admit that I've probably added an extra half star because of her presence and her fantastic ad-libs.

Nia Vardalos is also less punchable here than she was in My Big Fat Greek Weeding, and David Duchovny thankfully keeps it low key as the love interest. The laughs are hit and miss at times, but as a whole the film is worth a watch and passes the time quite nicely.