Die Mommie Die!

Reminding us that successful camp is almost always accidental not intentional, director Mark Rucker's adaptation of Charles Busch's play is a loving but heavy-handed send-up of overwrought women's pictures. Busch himself--in drag, of course--acts (or overacts) the Joan Crawford-Lana Turner-Susan Hayward heroine, an aging movie star named Angela Arden. The plot, which involves Arden's producer husband, the housekeeper who secretly lusts after him, a daughter who despises Angela, a son who's ambiguous about his sexuality, and a tennis pro/gigolo with a secret agenda--with murder thrown into the mix--could be the stuff of trashy melodrama (and indeed often was). Here, however, it's played as flamboyant farce, and the result is like a sketch from the old Carol Burnett show--with Harvey Korman in wig and dress--extended to inordinate length. Busch's cross-dressing character is an acquired taste whose act is more suited to stage than screen; the broadness of the approach here (if you'll excuse the pun) is better appreciated from a distance. While Jason Priestley and Stark Sands exhibit deft comic timing as Arden's hunky admirer and her son, respectively, Die Mommie Die! is ultimately little more than a midnight movie wannabe. Not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary (by director Mark Rucker, writer-costar Charles Busch, and costar Jason Priestley), a brief director intro, the Sundance Channel production “Anatomy of a Scene” (25 min.), the music video for “Why Not Me?” from the film, a brief deleted scene, a three-minute Busch performance in full color of “Why Not Me?”, silent screen tests for Busch (5 min.), the “Gallery of Rejected” movie posters and a photo gallery of on-set and New York and L.A. premiere stills, “The Costumes” of Die Mommie Die!, cast and crew bios and production notes (available in downloadable PDF format), and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a somewhat labored film.] (F. Swietek)