Cry-Baby

Universal Pictures | Release Date: April 6, 1990

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

63	METASCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

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Critic Reviews

Critic score Publication By date

100

Staff (Not Credited)

Replete with a thumpingly good soundtrack mixing old standards with modern pastiches, this is Waters' finest film to date, a worthy successor to Hairspray which exudes teen angst and young lust from every pore...Seriously sexy stuff. Read full review

Bill Cosford

It throbs with innocence; like prom night itself, it's an instant good memory. And like its creator, the always surprising John Waters, it's sideshow weird. They don't make 'em like this anymore. They never did, either. [6 Apr 1990, p.G5]

EmpireJo Berry

Peppered with fun-to-spot cameos (can you spot Williem Dafoe?), the parody-satire script works well with Depp's adept handling of the titular bad boy. A delinquent joy-ride, though without the Hard-core distaste of previous Waters flicks, which may or may not be a bad thing. Read full review

Peter Travers

In Cry-Baby, 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. At forty-three, Waters remains unrepentantly juvenile. It’s his saving grace. What he can’t fight, he ridicules. The mirror Waters holds up to the world is distorted, turning everyone into a grotesque. But we can still see ourselves in it And laugh. Read full review

Jay Boyar

Cry-Baby is hipper and funnier than any Elvis flick ever was, but in many ways it's not so different from Viva Las Vegas or Blue Hawaii. Read full review

Roger Ebert

It is only now that I am in a condition to appreciate the 1950s. Read full review

TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)

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

Gene Siskel

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. Read full review

Michael Upchurch

It all adds up to zany, wide-eyed, quintessential Waters havoc - the ``kinder, gentler'' 1990s brand, perhaps. But the genuine article, nonetheless. Enjoy. Read full review

Richard Corliss

The movie isn't handsome or measured or seamless -- the very notion of a well-made film would offend the director's antiaesthetic -- but once it gets revved up, Cry-Baby is keen fun from the onetime Belial of Baltimore. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

John Waters' mischievous satire of the teen exploitation genre is entertaining as a rude joyride through another era, full of great clothes and hairdos. Read full review

Harper Barnes

IF you loved ''Hairspray,'' you'll probably like ''Cry-Baby.'' John Waters' latest teen-age musical spoof is entertaining. But it lacks some of the satiric edge that made ''Hairspray'' rather outrageous, although it was quite tame compared to some of Waters' earlier movies. [6 Apr 1990, p.3F]

Mike Clark

Cry-Baby is more polished than Waters' Hairspray, but the script's lack of focus makes it a lesser film. And though some of the numbers are inspired, their non-stop frequency is as exhausting as the rest. [6 Apr 1990, p.4D]