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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Fine Line Features


9.4

based on 29 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 48 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

Shortbus

MUSIC:

Wig In A Box: Songs From & Inspired By Hedwig & The Angry Inch

MPAA RATING: R for sexual content and language

Starring John Cameron Mitchell, Miriam Shor, Michael Pitt, Andrea Martin, and Stephen Trask

Adapted from the critically acclaimed off-Broadway rock theatre hit, Hedwig and the Angry Inch tells the story of an 'internationally ignored' rock singer, Hedwig, and her search for stardom and love. (Fine Line Features)

GENRE(S):	Musical
WRITTEN BY:	John Cameron Mitchell (also play) Stephen Trask (music and lyrics)
DIRECTED BY:	John Cameron Mitchell
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: December 11, 2001 Video: December 11, 2001 Theatrical: July 20, 2001
RUNNING TIME:	95 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

John Cameron Mitchell was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance as the title character.

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard

Stomps the summer movie competition with heart and humor.

100

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

The sight of Hedwig and his band transforming a trashy trailer into a glitter-rock stage during "Wig in a Box" was so exhilarating I almost leapt out of my seat. The movie is pure theater, as it should be.

100

Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan

Builds into a moment of such gorgeous rocking that you truly lose yourself in some musical otherworld you never dreamed you'd reach in current films.

100

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

The story is told so passionately that it demands as much of you as it does of its performers, all of whom are up there, giving everything.

100

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

On the screen, the rip-roaring rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch retains all the excitement and energy it had on stage while adding depth, clarity and emotional texture.

100

LA Weekly Ernest Hardy

Mitchell retools his play magnificently, opening it up into a vibrant cinematic work.

100

The New York Times Stephen Holden

Clever, funny, wildly innovative film.

100

Washington Post Desson Thomson

The film's not only funny and weird, it's oddly poignant. I miss Hedwig already.

100

Wall Street Journal Ed Epstein

This extraordinary flight from the humdrum is not to be missed.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak

John Cameron Mitchell credits Plato as the inspiration for his rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Now Mitchell has turned his play into a raucous, touching celebration of a film.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Mitchell directs and stars in the riotous, loving, and only occasionally pathos-milking film adaptation of his own acclaimed Off Broadway play, with great up-your-ante music and lyrics by Stephen Trask.

New Times (L.A.) David Ehrenstein

Offers an enormous amount of pure silly fun for the entire non-nuclear family, no matter what gender they may be.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Mitchell gives this post-punk, neo-glam rock extravaganza everything in his loaded arsenal of talents. He gets the sound right, the look right, the fun right and - this is crucial - the pain right.

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

Mitchell, who also directed and wrote the screenplay, originally created this glorious rock opera for the stage with composer-lyricist Stephen Trask.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

If you thought ''Moulin Rouge,'' or, for that matter, ''Tommy,'' was trippy, Hedwig, with its glorious convergence of material and performer, will show you what you've been missing.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

This is Mitchell's show, and his performance lives up to his triple billing as writer, director and star.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

It's a positive hat trick by John Cameron Mitchell.

USA Today Claudia Puig

Wildly witty, but also inventive, audacious and poignant.

TV Guide Ken Fox

Ever hear of a rock musical that actually rocked? John Cameron Mitchell's glorious adaptation of his acclaimed Off-Broadway show might be a first.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Cameron's imaginative directing and screen-shaking performance give this rock musical plenty of oomph.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

The production is fantastically funny, high-energy camp, punctuated by Trask's infectious score and by Mitchell, dressing in a succession of wigs twice the size of his body.

San Francisco Chronicle Carla Meyer

Falters in its final 15 minutes, when the funny lines peter out and the flashbacks get fuzzy.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

This drag-queen melodrama, like its star, perseveres.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

There's a lot more at work in this raucously entertaining movie than cross-dressing clichés.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

There's some kind of pulse of sincerity beating below the glittering surface, and it may come from Mitchell's own life story.

Chicago Tribune Mark Caro

(Mitchell's) Hansel may be small-boned and soft-featured in an androgynous way, but his Hedwig is a force of nature, burned out and jaded yet brimming with compassion and bursting with energy.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

A screen spectacle that beseeches its audience for adoration and mass acceptance.

Variety Dennis Harvey

Despite some imaginative packaging too often proves a drag in more than the sartorial sense. Taking Mitchell's sketchy book far too seriously, the movie grows leaden between its terrific songs.

Village Voice Amy Taubin

It's this strategy (however unconscious), and not simply a lack of directing talent, that makes Hedwig so relentlessly assaultive, heavy-handed, and emotionally monochromatic.

The average user rating for this movie is 9.4 (out of 10) based on 48 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Dominick C. gave it a10:
The extraordinary talent that made this movie - writing, acting, music, visuals - and the humor, gives an exuberant feel with a wish that it would just go on and on. Makes most movies look like trite sad amateur hour same-old flops.

Pat C. gave it an8:
Extremely entertaining project. It succeeds in creating a world where transvestite/transsexual behavior is normalized, a kind of "Tommy" meets "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert." The sublte implication is that such behavior often results when a father is forced away from his son and left in the sole care of a dysfunctional mother. I'm one of those people who believes such behavior is contagious and that society should not be put in a position to condone it, but I support both the even-handedness and audacity of this film.

Clay gave it a10:
One of the most tenderly made films ever. John Cameron Mitchell's Hedwig and the Angry Inch, is part love story, part comedy, part tragedy and 100 percent Rock and Roll Musical. Mitchell plays the lead roll of Hedwig with bravura, soul, and wreckless abandonment of what anyone thinks. This is a film for anyone who looking for love, has been in love, or fallen out of love. You'll laugh, you'll cry and you'll watch it again and again. The replay value is astonishing considering there is fantastic costuming, amazing songs, various storyline angles and just plain memorable fun. Truly one of the best movies I have ever seen. Deeply touching and emotional you won't be disappointed.

Joseph K. gave it a10:
Only few films seem so right that you could say with confidence that they are near perfect. Not a beat missed,and thats not only reffering to the music. Questions of this films significance will be anwsered with 20 or so years of aging, though films like these are timeless, it is only a matter of time before enough people would agree it is a sure musical classic.

Tim gave it a10:
I laughed, I cried, I sang along...what more do you want from a movie?

Kitty D. gave it a10:
This movie is my life, end of story

Felix Q. gave it a9:
This encompases all I want in a movie musical. The quirkyness and sincerity combined make this absolutely amazing. This is one of the rare movies that can competently compete on several different levels, in many genres. It's out there and wacky, but also sensitive and it respects it's own ludicrous characters enough to give them the film they deserve. Not in everyone's tase, I'm willing to bet- I think this one requires a very open mind and broad taste, but once you get into a rhythm on this one, it's addictive.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch Fine Line Features

Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Fine Line Features