Cry-Baby

**Cry-Baby** is a 1990 American musical romantic comedy film written and directed by John Waters which was released on April 6, 1990 by Universal Pictures.

## Plot

Set in Baltimore, Maryland during the 1950s, the film follows bad boy Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker who becomes romantically involved with good girl Allison.

## Cast

* Johnny Depp as Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker
	+ James Intveld as Cry-Baby (singing voice)
* Amy Locane as Allison Vernon-Williams
	+ Rachel Sweet as Allison (singing voice)
* Polly Bergen as Mrs. Vernon-Williams
* Ricki Lake as Pepper Walker
* Traci Lords as Wanda Woodward
* Kim McGuire as Mona "Hatchet-Face" Malnorowski
* Darren E. Burrows as Milton Hackett
* Susan Tyrrell as Ramona Rickettes
* Iggy Pop as Belvedere Rickettes
* Kim Webb as Lenora Frigid
* Stephen Mailer as Baldwin
* Alan J. Wendl as Joe "Toe-Joe" Jackson
* Jonathan Benya as Snare-Drum
* Jessica Raskin as Susie "Susie Q"
* Troy Donahue as Mr. Malnorowski
* Mink Stole as Mrs. Malnorowski

## Box Office

"Cry-Baby" grossed $3,004,905 during its opening weekend. Overall, the film grossed $8,266,343 worldwide on an estimated budget of $11,000,000.

## Critical Reception

Rolling Stone magazine wrote: *"In Cry-Baby, [John] Waters has created a crackpot jamboree that captures the Fifties, then parodies and transcends the period; any resemblance to Nineties greed, prejudice and repression is intentional."*

TV Guide magazine said: *"Underneath the numerous entertaining cameos, not much is going on, and it shows. The film's terrific first half-hour can't sustain itself. [Johnny] Depp is nice to look at, but too diminutive to bring much force to his sexy biker. [Amy] Locane is well, okay, but she's eclipsed at every turn by the marvelously vulgar [Traci] Lords, who embraces the genre with the energy and anarchy of the much-missed Divine."*

Critic Gene Siskel from the Chicago Tribune wrote: *"For a while the actors seem intimidated by the `50s references, but the film eventually develops a musical energy that carries the day. Amy Locane shows promise as the virtuous girl who falls for juvenile delinquent Johnny Depp."*

The Los Angeles Times wrote that the film *"is often sweet-spirited even when its crummy, but there's also something fetid in its foolery."*

Time Out magazine said: *"Replete with a thumpingly good soundtrack mixing old standards with modern pastiches, this is [John] Waters' finest film to date."*

Janet Maslin of The New York Times stated: *"Mr. [Johnny] Depp, who smolders naturally when he isn't trying so hard, acts this role about as well as Elvis would have; under the circumstances, that's fine."*

Jay Boyar from the Orlando Sentinel wrote: *"I don't quite know how Waters did it (and I have absolutely no idea why he did it), but the fact that Cry-Baby is fun suggests that the filmmaker possesses an instinctive understanding of what made those Elvis pictures so successful in the first place."*

Entertainment Weekly said: *"There are some funny moments, but this may be the first time the director's scabrous, anarchic wit seems vaguely depressed."*

Variety magazine said: *"John Waters' mischievous satire of the teen exploitation genre is entertaining as a rude joyride through another era, full of great clothes and hairdos."*