To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (DVD, 2003)

This movie is a vanilla version comedy about social violence towards gender difference, in the back ground; the gender violence society expresses against male women and female women, both. This movie gently links them together, appropriately so.

I suppose I'd have to say that Patrick Swayze is the star drag queen who is gorgeous dressed as a woman. He'd look good in anything (or nothing) I bet! Surprisingly, Wesley Snipes steps way out of his usual characters to play a totally not passing drag queen who is hysterically funny and bumbling, especially in high heels.

Stockard Channing also steps out of top leading and supporting lady character to be a miserable victim housewife of husband battery and assault. She and Swayze (who passes as a woman quite well) become close "girlfriends," and Swayze is the one who takes up for her when she is abused. It's really an all star cast with Stockard Channing, Blythe Danner, Melinda Dillon, Arliss Howard, Chris Penn, John Leguizamo, Patrick Swayze, & Wesley Snipes.

The forefront story is that three drag queens have set out from NY for Hollywood to do a beauty pageant. They become hopelessly stranding (like the 3 Australian drag queens in the more adult R-rated "Priscilla Queen of the Desert"). While they are awaiting their Cadillac convertible car parts, they show that gender difference doesn't make any difference, even in a small US Midwestern community because as humans, through compassion, understanding, and courage we have much more in common being human than not.

If you're looking for a gender-bender comedy that is a little slap-stick, clean cut, and cute, this is the one.