Josie and the Pussycats
***
Cinema
Releases - August 24, 2001
Rated on a 4-star scale. Certificate 12. 98
minutes. Directed by Harry Elfont, Deborah Kaplan. Written by Harry Elfont,
Deborah Kaplan; based on characters created by Dan DeCarlo, John L. Goldwater,
Richard H. Goldwater. Starring Rachel Leigh Cook, Tara Reid, Rosario Dawson,
Alan Cumming, Gabriel Mann.
There is a moment in "Josie and the
Pussycats" in which one of the characters is asked "Why are you here?",
and her response is "Because I was in the comic book!"
That sums up the style of the movie. The source
material is a comic strip from the "Archie" books, and the film features
goofy dialogue and delivery, idiosyncratic editing and a strong colour palette.
There's even an appearance from them nasty Riverdale kids. Some viewers will
be put off by the childishness of this picture. I was attracted to
it.
The story involves a small-town rock band played
by Rachel Leigh Cook, Rosario Dawson and Tara Reid; they're a trio called
The Pussycats whose personalities should be respectively described as dumbish,
dumb and Dumbelina. The band members struggle to get gigs anywhere other
than bowling allies until one day a record company exec (Alan Cumming) finds
them on the street and whisks them off to superstardom.
The Cumming character is an evil chap whose company
plants subliminal messages in pop music to turn kids into zombies that lap
up corporate junk. He takes unknown bands, gives them record deals, plants
the messages in their music, lets them rise to fame, and allows big business
to get rich off them. If band members get wise to the scam, they're killed,
but until then they enjoy enormous success, while their fans go round screaming
"I gotta get the album! Ooh, I need a Pepsi! Hey, lets go to Gap -- purple
is the new pink!"
There is plenty such corporate satire in "Josie
and the Pussycats", which I thought hit the mark despite being done with
the minimum of subtlety. I especially enjoyed seeing the latest addition
to hotel bathrooms, the 'McShower'. For teenage viewers who have in real
life been brainwashed into slavish adherence to brand names and logos, it
will as play as product placement rather than a wake-up call, but hey --
just because this movie isn't going to change the world doesn't mean it isn't
amusingly subversive for a studio effort.
Some critics have ripped "Josie and the Pussycats"
apart. My most respected colleague, Roger Ebert, gave the film half a star
and shook his head at its hyperactive tackiness. I dunno. I think the film
is a good fusion of sex appeal, satire, slapstick energy and surprisingly
effective punk-pop. Most of those involved have done better, but they've
also done a helluva lot worse.
COPYRIGHT©
2001 Ian Waldron-Mantgani
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