Review by Dan Taylor
If
there's one thing I pride myself on its
my unerring honesty as a reviewer. So, when
JOSIE & THE PUSSYCATS was announced,
I was admittedly dubious about the whole
endeavor.
Remember gang, this is a movie
based on a cartoon show that grew out of
side characters in the Archie comics. That's
like making a movie based on Lenny and Squiggy.
Granted, J&TP would give me some of
my earliest memories of that "special
feeling" that would be explained later
in life, but other than that and their wicked
theme song ("long tails and ears for
hats") I wasn't longing for a big-screen
comeback. Unfortunately, that doesn't explain
how I was able to get a perfect score on
a recent J&TP quiz in TV Guide, but
that's something I'll have to take up with
my therapist.
But, casting my feelings aside,
I answered when duty called. And, with nothing
else to do until playoff hockey came on
I did what any right-thinking 34-year-old
single man would do: I plunked down $5.50
to catch a matinee of the brand spanking
new JOSIE & THE PUSSYCATS movie. As
an aside, I'd like to thank the gentleman
that showed up shortly before the movie
started with his pre-teen daughter. Their
presence prevented me from being the youngest,
oldest, or only person in the audience!
Now, director/writer duo Deborah
Kaplan and Harry Elfont could've taken the
easy road (ala SPICE WORLD) and run the
characters of hard-rockin' guitar chick
Josie (redheaded cutie Rachael Leigh Cook),
aggressive bass player Val (the Pam Grier-in-waiting
Rosario Dawson), and dopey-but-sweet drummer
Melody (husky-voiced Tara Reid) through
some mindless, boring affair aimed at who
knows what audience. Instead, they realized
that by mixing some clever, kooky looks
at pop culture and product placement with
a zany, over-the-top world domination scheme
they'd attract a bigger audience. Or, at
least as many people as went to see the
first AUSTIN
POWERS flick.
Oh yeah, and if they put the
three leads in a succession of belly shirts,
high-heels and leg-exposing skirts they'd
corner the market on single males with disposable
income. And me complaining this weekend
that the chicks weren't hot enough...
With #1 boy band DuJour (featuring
Seth Green and the guy from ROAD TRIP in
hysterical turns) MIA after stumbling onto
subliminal messages in their songs, evil
record company flunky Wyatt (Alan Cummings
looking like a cross between Pee-wee Herman
and Robert Downey, Jr.) is charged with
the task of finding another band to carry
said messages to the youth of today, or
he'll be at the mercy of Fiona, the evil
record company exec (played with sinister
glee by Parker Posey). The two are reminiscent
of Richard Grant and Sandra Bernhard in
HUDSON HAWK, another underappreciated, ahead-of-its
time gem. (I say another because I just
read the weekend box office reports and
JOSIE opened in a disappointing seventh
place! What's wrong with you people?!)
Stumbling across Josie and
pals at an intersection, Wyatt puts plans
into action and the girls find themselves
whisked away where they shoot to the top
of charts, battle dissension within their
ranks, make hot videos, and wear a seemingly
inexhaustible supply of cute outfits. Hell,
there's even a sweetly romantic subplot
between Josie and Alan M (played by some
guy who looks JUST like a young James Spader!)
that captures the maddening, sick-to-my
stomach wonder of telling the person you
love how you really feel about them. Of
course, it all comes to a head on the night
of the big concert where good side and bad
side play tug-of-war the likes of which
hasn't been seen in a rock 'n' roll flick
since KISS MEETS THE PHANTOM!
If you had told me that I'd
come out of this flick praising it as a
wondrous, damn sexy, hilarious blend of
the first AUSTIN POWERS, Russ Myers' BEYOND
THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, and HUDSON HAWK,
I'd say you were too busy huffing aerosol.
Yet, here I am, saying just that.
Josie and the Pussycats. Breakin'
records, breakin' hearts... indeed.
