Two sets of arms...two sets of legs

Rating: 6/10 (13 August 2001)

A pointed and serious rock musical with a bitter comedic edge. Hedwig is a half-man/half-woman singer in the Midwest who has quite a story to tell. She managed to get out of run-down East Berlin by marrying a gay American officer--but not before having a sex operation that "got botched". Now she's on a quest to face down the teen idol she discovered and groomed, a relationship that blew up in her face after the kid ran off with her songs. A vital and vivid depiction of sexual angst, one with excellent music written by Stephen Trask and performed by director-star John Cameron Mitchell (who really knows how to work the camera). Their film, adapted from the Off-Broadway cult smash, does have problems; it falters somewhere near the end and finishes limply. There's a streak of pretentiousness about the work that fails to bring the comedic elements and the drama together. Many sequences are amusing and bracing, however Mitchell's direction doesn't work out the balance of emotions we're feeling, and his conception leaves us behind. I didn't care for the surreal jumble that is the final fifteen minutes, but I loved the flashbacks to Hedwig's childhood (his flat was so small he had to play in the oven!) and all the players are game and forthright with Mitchell's take-no-prisoners approach. **1/2 from ****