Cry-Baby directed by John Waters (1990), is a musical film about teenagers in the Baltimore County area of Maryland who like each other even though they each belong to a different clique and then it later turns into the girl involving herself in the boys clique while trying to get him out of jail. This is basically Romeo and Juliet except Juliet’s family is cool with them getting together and all they have to deal with is the teen drama they caused. There are ton of snappy songs and a fun story to go with it. One thing you need to remember is that this film is set in the 50’s and filmed in the late 80’s, there are confederate flags and racial bits with the police. Maryland is a bastard child of the south. Most who’ve lived there don’t really see themselves as southern, the south doesn’t really see them as southern, and the north doesn’t see them as northern. However, they are technically a southern state based on Confederate lines but mostly served as a no man’s land during the war with the Union armies holding a good portion of the state to keep the south from taking the capital. Anyways, just be aware of what you’ll see in the film. John Waters likes controversial imagery and stories. Shouldn’t be much of a surprise to be shocked by something in his films. It’s a fun musical that isn’t too serious but worth a watch.
Watched on Starz.
Grizzly Era Studios 