To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar

"Attitude is everything."

1995 1h 48m EN

👍

7.5

SOLID

🥫

49%

ROTTEN

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.8

IMDB

★7.5TMDB · 854🥫49%Rotten Tomatoes●60Metacritic★6.8IMDB · 40,215

ComedyDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Veteran drag queens Vida Boheme and Noxeema Jackson take novice Chi-Chi Rodriguez under their wing on a madcap road trip across the country to compete in the Drag Queen of America pageant in Los Angeles.

“Attitude is everything.”

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Cast

Patrick Swayze
Vida Boheme
Wesley Snipes
Noxeema Jackson
John Leguizamo
Chi-Chi Rodriguez
Stockard Channing
Carol Ann
Blythe Danner
Beatrice
Arliss Howard
Virgil
Jason London
Bobby Ray
Chris Penn
Sheriff Dollard

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Beeban Kidron
Writers: Douglas Carter Beane
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

31 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Beeban Kidron, shot by Steve Mason. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Rachel Portman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Andrew Mondshein shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Patrick Swayze and Wesley Snipes and John Leguizamo carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Attitude is everything.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0114682 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Beeban Kidron directs. Steve Mason behind the camera. Rachel Portman scores. Andrew Mondshein cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

131 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Directed by Beeban Kidron, shot by Steve Mason. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Rachel Portman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Andrew Mondshein shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Patrick Swayze and Wesley Snipes and John Leguizamo carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Attitude is everything.".
7IMDB entry: tt0114682 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 10 themes, including "new york city", "transvestism", "homophobia", "drag queen".

The technical file

Cinematography: Steve Mason
Original score: Rachel Portman
Editing: Andrew Mondshein
Production design: Wynn Thomas
Costume design: Marlene Stewart
Runtime: 108 min · 1h 48m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $47,774,193
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995)
Rotten Tomatoes: 49% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 60/100
IMDB rating: 6.8/10 · 40,215 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

3 nominations total

Also by

Beeban Kidron

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

tmdb766221952023-09-27
★ 8/10
Although it often crosses over into stereotype and sentimentality, this film is made likeable by its fabulous cast. Vida (Patrick Swayze) and Noxeema (Wesley Snipes) are co-winners in a New York drag queen contest. They win a trip to Hollywood to compete in a national pageant. Taking pity on drag queen in training Chi-Chi (John Leguizamo), they sell the two plane tickets and buy a Cadillac convertible and drive cross country. They have a run-in with hick sheriff Dollard (Chris Penn), and Vita thinks she has killed him after he discovers her male identity. The car breaks down somewhere in the Midwest, and the trio must wait a weekend before the part can be ordered. In the meantime, they integrate themselves into the small town, solving everyone's problems, and giving the place a little pizzazz. There are points in this film where my eyes rolled. No one in the town knows these three are men dressed in women's clothing. The dumb hick routine has been done before, and this film does not add anything. Vita, Noxeema, and Chi-Chi all have a heightened sense of fashion, have been rejected by their families, and can only rely on each other. Dollard is an insensitive bigot hunting the three down after being laughed at by other law enforcement officers. He is also a cliche, although Penn's scene in the bar talking about a man getting it on with another man is the highlight of the film. Despite all the stock characters, I am still recommending the film. Sure, the characters have been done before, but I still liked them all, even the villainous Dollard. The small town is populated by extremely good acting talent like Stockard Channing, Blythe Danner, Melinda Dillon, and Jeremy London, and that adds to the film. The writers never degenerate into the visiting trio trying to cover up the fact that they are men through weak slapstick or goofball chase scenes. After a while, I forgot Snipes, Swayze, and Leguizamo were actors dressed like women. There are no instances where the three "slip up" and reveal they are men, like "Tootsie" or "Some Like It Hot," and I am not faulting those films for that. Those films had straight men forced to dress like women. Here, Vita, Noxeema, and Chi-Chi make no secret of their love for men, and don't care what others believe of them- unless they could get physically hurt in the process. The title of the film refers to an autographed photograph the trio takes with them, turning it into their shrine and reason for going on. With cameos by Robin Williams, RuPaul, and the actual Julie Newmar, I found I enjoyed "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar" more than I probably should have. But like the three ladies, I just did not care.

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