Anyone see "Some like It hot" (1959), "Victor/Victoria" (1982), "Tootsie" (1982) or "Sister Act" (1992)? Nia Vardalos has written and starred in one of the most unoriginal films in years, cribbing from the 4 films to the point of plagiarism. Toni Collette and her witness a mob hit and flee from Chicago to a safe haven (Los Angeles!) where they become female impersonators in a drag club. Vardolas, big-featured and with not much screen persona, falls for David Duchovny, a neighbor who has to come to terms with a gay brother (Stephen Spinella - skinny!). That subplot is as ludicrous as is the ending, "Tootsie" -style, where the two women reveal themselves to the club in a most mawkish, badly directed (Michael Lembeck) sequence; Debbie Reynolds is thrown in to sing a one verse-song. Some of the supporting cast is OK, particularly Alec Mapa as a Filipino Drag artist. Two performers are wasted: Duchovny is a natural, easy-going, nice-looking actor who deserves better (and seems embarrassed) and the mega-talented Collette, shunted to the sidelines and whose character ends up with the same white-trashy guy from Chicago. For a time better spent, see the originals.
Review of Connie and Carla
