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Friday, March 30, 2007

Movies: Outrageous

Outrageous (1977)

The plot: A gay hairdresser (Craig Russell) with a talent for mimicry is encouraged by his pregnant schizophrenic roommate (Hollis McLaren) to perform as a drag queen.

What seems to be a pretty strange premise makes for a very touching and humorous little independent film from Canada. While this is basically a showcase for Russell's remarkable impersonations (Judy Garland, Tallulah Bankhead, Barbra Streisand and many others), the movie manages to keep a very compelling storyline going due in no small part to the performance of Hollis McLaren as a young woman who struggles with a disease that none of us understand very well now, much less in 1977.
The subject matter may not be for everybody, but I really enjoyed this film.

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