Queen of the Whole Wide World (2001) User Reviews

A great, very funny movie -- don't overlook this gem!

[ThorNYC2 · 10/10 · 16 June 2002]

I just caught this movie at NYC's Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. When choosing movies to see, I thought, hmm, a documentary about a drag queen competition, should be a fun, light film. It turns out to be one of the best and funniest movies I've seen in or OUT of festivals in YEARS.

But it's not just drag queens being bitchy and fabulous at a parody of a Miss Universe-type contest, which is actually a major AIDS fundraiser in L.A. -- the film includes enough background material on each "contestant" as they work for MONTHS preparing for this benefit that it turns out to be quite moving, too.

The director has done an expert and professional job conducting the interviews and intercutting all the footage. The packed house I saw it with absolutely loved this film (I predict it will win the festival's audience choice award this year), and was one of those movies where the audience roars so much at all the outrageousness on screen that you miss some of what's being spoken!

This small film is good enough that it should get picked up by PBS or Sundance Channel, and/or play at art houses. If you see it playing or being broadcast, be sure to go see it / watch it -- you'll have a GREAT time!

I hope it's available on video/DVD someday, too -- I'd definitely like to own this feel-good movie.

WHY isn't this available on video or DVD??

[KMPINTJ · 10/10 · 30 August 2004]

I saw this two years ago at a film festival, and have spent an inordinate amount of time since then searching (and searching and searching!) to no avail to find a copy on DVD or video!

This is a hilarious film, yet it is actually a documentary of a real event, a top-notch drag pageant that is a fundraiser for a very worthy cause. The players in this pageant really "go all out" like NO other drag artists I've ever seen, to have the audience (both the "real" audience at the pageant, and the film audience) absolutely ROLLING on the floor. Whatever you think of female impersonators, you will LOVE THIS!

That is, assuming you can ever find a copy of it to watch!

TO WHOEVER CAN HELP, PLEASE PUT IT ON DVD!!!

Wonderful and surprisingly moving look at a drag queen competition.

[ScottGGH · 19 November 2002]

I saw this movie at a film festival and was a little intimidated by the drag queens in full costume wondering around the lobby. Besides never having seen this many in real life, I was praying that I wouldn't have to sit behind any of them in the theater given that they were big men to start with and had huge wigs that would have blotted out the screen.

But five minutes into this documentary I was hooked. Granted, I'm a sucker for any examination of a competition ("Spellbound," a 2002 doc about a recent national spelling bee is one of my favorite movies), but the whole process these men went through was endlessly fascinating.

As the movie progresses, we see each performer craft a character which is supposed to represent a country in a Miss Universe style pageant, and learn about the lives these men are living when they're not wearing mile-high wigs and sequins. (The event is an AIDS fundraiser, so there is a lot of heartache behind the glamour.) Some are old pros, and one in particular ("Miss Mexico") had never done this before.

I ended up picking favorites and rooting for them, thoroughly enjoying the show -- and the movie -- as it lead to the victorious crowning.

A good documentary can educate as well as entertain, exposing you to a world you knew nothing about. "Queen of the Whole Wide World" does just that in spades.