Product Details

• Actors: Johnny Depp, Ricki Lake, Amy Locane, Susan Tyrrell, Polly Bergen
• Directors: John Waters
• Writers: John Waters
• Producers: Brian Grazer, Jim Abrahams, Pat Moran, Rachel Talalay
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Universal Studios
• VHS Release Date: September 1, 1998
• Run Time: 85 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (230 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301763041
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #162,037 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

John Waters's goofy, 1990 comedy about a Baltimore girl (Amy Locane) who can't decide if she should remain "good" in her 1954 world or hang out with the motorcycle boys is funny in a scene-by-scene way, but doesn't quite gel into the grand piece the director was hoping for. The cast is exceptionally likable, however, including Johnny Depp as an Elvis type and Iggy Pop as a chattering loony. The best material is set in a fringe world of bikers and losers on the outskirts of town, and Waters writes some hilarious sardonic dialogue for the characters. Cry-Baby is the last of Waters's more undisciplined features; he followed it with the glossier but no less perverse Serial Mom. --Tom Keogh

From The New Yorker

This John Waters' movie, set in Baltimore in 1954, is an attempt to repeat the formula of his "Hairspray" (1988), but this is a much less enjoyable picture. Like all Waters movies, it's about a battle between the good, disreputable people and the bad, conventional ones-in this case, a group of juvenile delinquents (called "drapes"), whose leader is a handsome rock and roller known as Cry-Baby (Johnny Depp), versus "the squares," represented by just about everybody else in town. Cry-Baby, a sensitive sort (he lost both his parents to the electric chair), falls in love with a square girl, Allison (Amy Locane), and the film devotes itself to exploring the question, Can their forbidden love survive in a world that just doesn't understand? Unfortunately, almost everything in the movie feels flat and enervated. It's indifferently, mechanically paced; the musical numbers are ineptly staged; and Depp isn't a very exciting presence. Waters seems to be going through the motions: "Cry-Baby" is all attitude, a rote recitation of mildly naughty jokes he's made before. Maybe cute people don't inspire him. The bizarre supporting cast includes Polly Bergen, former porn queen Traci Lords, Kim McGuire (as a spectacularly ugly girl called Hatchet-Face), Susan Tyrrell, Ricki Lake, Iggy Pop, Troy Donahue, Joey Heatherton, Joe Dallesandro, David Nelson, and celebrity ex-con Patty Hearst. -Terrence Rafferty
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Woo-Wee, you caught me in my birthday suit! Buck nekkid!, May 23, 2005

By 

Michael LaPointe "Island Mike" (Orange County, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cry Baby: Director's Cut (DVD)

I'm really excited to see this great film finally make its debut on dvd; it's been a long wait.

John Waters has proven himself time and time again as America's avatar of bad taste and all things tacky, but he sidelined his more base urges for a greater good over a decade ago. Starting with Hairspray, Waters essentially re-created the American musical, and honed that to perfection with the castly underappreciated Cry-Baby. But it's not just a musical - it's also a heartfelt valentine to a simpler time, his beloved Baltimore of the late 1950's.

Depp stars as "Cry-Baby" Walker, a juvenile delinquent from the wrong side of the tracks who spends his time hanging with his gang and singing that evil rock n' roll music. He and his way of life are constantly threatened by the town 'Squares' who are both threatened and repelled by Cry-Baby and those like him.

Naturally, he falls for a Square girl and all hell breaks loose. That part of it is a simple story, and I won't waste time rehashing or giving it away here. No, what really stands out about this film is its gleeful embrace of 'white-trash culture,' its loving tribute to the great juvenile delinquent movies of the 50's and 60's, and its rambunctious energy.

As usual, Waters peppers the film with eclectic casting; Susan Tyrell, Iggy Pop, Ricki Lake, Mink Stole, Joe Dalessandro, Willem Dafoe, David Nelson (son of Ozzie), Traci Lords and Patty Hearst (yes, that Patty Hearst) are just a few of the many talents that form this wonderful ensemble cast. And of course, it's another one of Depp's great iconoclastic roles that have helped define him as one of the great idiosyncratic actors of our time.

So grab yourself an RC Cola, a Moon Pie, and put yer teeth up on the windowsill while y'all enjoy this trashy good time. You'll thank me for it and if y'all don't like it, I'll eat me a bug.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny, October 4, 2005

By 

Terry Mesnard (Bellevue, NE) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Cry Baby: Director's Cut (DVD)

There are two movies that people who don't know John Waters and the types of films he normally makes always love. Cry Baby and Hairspray contain both John Water's sense of humor and style, but don't necessarily dig into the depths of depravity (like eating dog poo) some of his more subversive films do. I'm not a John Waters aficionado yet, but what I've noticed in his films is that they normally center around two opposite sides that will eventually come crashing into one another. From Hairspray to A Dirty Shame, the films do a great job of putting two sides in direct opposition to each other and then letting the fur fly.

Cry Baby is no different. In this case, the Drapes and the Squares square off (pun not-intended) with Johnny Depp's Wade and Amy Locane's Allison at the center. Basically a love story that draws on the same dichotomous split seen in Romeo and Juliet, you have the poor and rowdy meet the rich and on the surface proper. What follows is a funny and zany ride as the two sides end up colliding in a winner-take-all car chase.

The writing is sharp as is the directing. What I admire about Waters the most is his ability to create vivid characters with personality. Sometimes he relies heavily on stereotypes, but each character is his or her own. You won't ever confuse them. They stay sharp, even when the acting isn't exactly stellar. The acting, like a majority of John Water's films, is spotty. Its done in an over-the-top sort of way that you can't help but laugh at. It reminds you that this isn't real and that you shouldn't take it seriously. Water's employs not only great upcoming talent (like Depp) but also people like Hatchet Face who haven't been seen much in film since. All do a great job playing their roles; however, not all of them are good actors.

Once you look past this minor speed bump, the ride is hillarious. It, along with Hairspray, is probably the most accessible of John Water's films. It maintains his sharp satirical writing and funny dialogue, but keeps the humor bawdy but not excessive.

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars why is cry baby not on DVD(5 Star Rating for the film), February 27, 2004

By 

hannah wooding (Lancashire, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

cry baby what a great film! I am 16 and i have been watching Cry baby since i was 8 years old on a battered and worn out version on VHS. The film makes me feel really happy, the songs are unforgetable and the characters are just real funny especially Johnny Depp. I have mailed the director about releasing the film on DVD and i cant wait for it to happen. I am sure lots of people will buy. So "please Mr Jailer" give us Cry baby on DVD