AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

ShangLuda Admirable film.

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

gilboordstuart I am the co-author of the original short story that Outrageous was based on. We never expected nor intended a sequel be considered when the original first few books of short stories were published. One reviewer says Margaret was bi-polar, Margaret's way of removing the stigma of schizophrenia. The term did not exist 40 years ago! From her adolescence onwards, she had been hospitalized on a few occasions. During our marriage on several occasions Margaret went off her meds to prove she did not have schizophrenia with ensuing issues and short-term hospitalization to get her back on her meds. Comments by the other reviewers are interesting and mostly heartfelt. Craig became an excellent female impersonator. He would practise in front of a mirror, of course, and in front of his circle of friends. At the time I knew him, he never considered nor discussed serious acting. He liked performing. This explains why, in the TV programme Streets of San Francisco, Craig did not act. He did the voice-overs for all of the singing of the female impersonator character. With regards to his impersonation of Mae West, Craig was her personal secretary for a period of time. This was well before his drag career. 40 years ago is a long time to remember details.

jonathan-577 At first I reacted against the sentimentality of the madness-as-nonconformism theme, which is really mostly down to Hollis McLaren; as Craig Russell's heavily medicated roommate, she gets more than a little familiar when she expresses her downturns with hushed gibberish or staring through her fingers. But in between episodes she really gets to articulate the bill of outsiders' rights, and Russell is right there with her. No comparable clichés in this film's depiction of the Toronto gay scene, a diverse yet claustrophobic enclave that places transvestites on the bottom of a depressingly rigid hierarchy - an economic threat to closeted hairdressers, stealth patriarchs to the second-wave dykes. At a time when cinematic queerness was synonymous with effete self-loathing, this sympathetic and detailed depiction of a complex, vital skid-row subculture was decades ahead of its time, and has real time-capsule value today. All of which to say is that they're far from just marking time between Russell's impersonations, which are definitive even if he did steal them from Mae West herself. Put the two together and you've got a film that synthesizes social engagement and entertainment value with almost unprecedented verve.

julianaguirreps What an unexpected treat.Long before Pricilla and all the others, there was Craig Russell. His impersonations remains vividly embedded in my brain because besides the look and mannerisms, I perceived the soul of the characters in question. They are not caricatures but tributes. His Judy Garland is heartbreaking and his Mae West hilarious.As if all that was not enough we have a screenplay of such intelligence and wit that I'm surprised this film is not a classic. When Holly's doctor finds out she lives with a man, he tries to warn her about the risks (she's bi polar) of an emotional, sexual entanglement. She reassures him telling him "Don't worry, we sleep in separate worlds" Lovely.

Mark Dulcey The late Craig Russell is the star of Outrageous! It was a cult favorite here in the Boston area, playing for weeks at the late lamented Orson Welles Cinema. I had a bright red T-shirt with the movie logo on the front that I treasured for years.First and foremost, the film is a document of his brilliant performances; he not only got the look and mannerisms of his subjects down cold, he also spoke and sung all the voices himself!The plot, such as it is, is a tale about his attempts to become a successful performer, and about his schizophrenic friend and how he and she support and heal each other. It's not bad, but the performances are the heart and soul of the film.Outrageous! was long out of print; happily for the world, it's available again. Get it while you can.