Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)

A television crew is sent to a rural small town in Minnesota to do a documentary on a teen beauty pageant. But things turn deadly as the contestants mysteriously start being killed off. Directed by Michael Patrick Jann (his only feature film to date), this outrageous black comedy pulls no punches. Sure, beauty contests are an easy target but the film gleefully tosses aside political correctness and goes after the mentally challenged, the deaf, the gun culture as well as the beauty contest. The movie is yet another example of a film receiving mixed reviews on its original release that has become a cult favorite in the ensuing years. Its over the top lack of subtlety irked most critics who compared it unfavorably to SMILE (1975), another film satire on beauty pageants. But it's that very looney flamboyance that makes the film so funny. The cast gets it and they're all wonderful from Kirstie Alley as a right wing religious fanatic (who knew the film would be so prescient?) who'll stop at nothing to assure her snooty daughter (Denise Richards in her best film performance) wins the crown to Allison Janney as a beer drinking trailer trash neighbor. With Kirsten Dunst, Ellen Barkin, Amy Adams (in her film debut), Brittany Murphy, Adam West, Mindy Sterling, Nora Dunn, Mo Gaffney and Sam McMurray.