The best and most witty rock music movie ever made. It’s set in the present day while its inspiration comes straight from the 1970s glitter rock scene of outrageous costumes and melodic songs that surge with drama. Meanwhile, the comedy is bawdy, but charmingly old-fashioned with John Cameron Mitchell’s hard luck transsexual rock star Hedwig tossing out great lines galore with a jaded drag queen’s uniquely cool sense of camp. Mitchell’s perfect performance (he also wrote and directed) is the result of years of stage shows that preceded the film. He’s honed every line razor sharp. Mitchell inhabits Hedwig’s wigs, dresses, make-up, anger, whimsy and vulnerability so comfortably, you’d think he was playing himself.
Everytime I see this, I laugh about fifty times. I also cry about five times, both for its touching moments and for how beautifully made it is. Catch it in a theater if you ever can. Like most great cult movies, this plays best in front of a crowd who know it well, get its jokes, clap for its many bravura moments (the “Wig in a Box” sequence is the big heart-ripper) and who cries along with you.