Polyester (1981)

I hadn't seen "Polyester" since its initial release, and was curious about it after having just viewed the recent Criterion Blu-Ray of one of John Waters' earlier independent productions "Female Trouble" (1974). I honestly couldn't remember "Polyester" at all, or whether or not I had liked it, so I gave it another look today.I couldn't even finish watching it; what a wretched, unfunny mess of a movie. I guess Waters figured it was time to sell out for the Reagan era, which was probably a savvy business decision, but the way in which he did it, by doing a broad satire of a Douglas Sirk melodrama using trashy characters and a "reformed" Divine as the pathetic (rather than monstrous, as he played in "Pink Flamingos" and "Female Trouble") character of Francine Fishpaw comes off as a cheap, slapstick betrayal of his earlier anti-aesthetic. Perhaps Waters is even satirizing himself by having his heroine be a pro-life Christian, to show how "sick and twisted" heterosexual family life is in surburban America; recall that Edith Massey, playing Aunt Ida in "Female Trouble," states this explicitly in one of her scenes with her son Gator.I guess after realizing he couldn't "go home again" and had to do something totally different (his next film after this one, "Crybaby", was pretty iffy, too), Waters hit upon the goldmine idea of doing a musical, "Hairspray," which ended up rejuvenating his career and was later successfully produced as a Broadway smash. Waters didn't give up on his old "bad taste" aesthetic, however; his later film releases that hearken back to his Dreamland period, "Serial Mom", "Cecil B. Demented," and "Pecker", while all ultimately unsatisfying for one reason or another, are all superior to "Polyester". It is truly sad that Waters' last film with his star Divine was so lame, but it certainly wasn't because of Divine's acting. He gives it his all, but the script suffers from not having any sympathetic characters except maybe for Edith Massey. The casting of has-been Tab Hunter was probably a huge mistake, too, since he and Divine don't really have any chemistry onscreen. "Polyester" hasn't aged well at all, and should be considered a transitional misfire in Waters' career that he was, thankfully, able to put behind him.

I recently had the pleasure of seeing John Waters live show followed by a screening of Polyester and we were spoiled and got the Odorama cards! Aside from Waters being hilarious on stage and wonderfully unpolitically correct, the movie is excellent. Completely offbeat, wonderful dysfunctional family, physical comedy, exaggerated characters makes this a classic comedy, even if a bit outdated. I loved it. I only gave it a 9 because of the sound quality and the slightly outdated look, albeit still excellent. Divine's performance is divine... If you didn't now it was a man, you could almost be fooled. Lulu's performance is over the top, so not very credible, but it makes it all the more funny and ludicrous. Dexter is nuts, plain and simple. One does not see this film for its true like story line, but to see over the top blown up characters that make you laugh. This does just that. However, if you ever have the chance to see Waters,' live show, do not miss it!

Cult director John Waters skimmed the outskirts of mainstream film-making with "Polyester", which had a bigger budget and better distribution than his previous output--it's even got Tab Hunter in the cast! Divine is a riot as a three-hundred-pound suburban housewife who is trying to deal with her wildly dysfunctional family: her daughter is pregnant, her husband is cheating on her, and her son is a notorious criminal (he sneaks up on unsuspecting ladies and stomps on their feet!). Although the movie runs too long and eventually wears out its welcome, Waters keeps it hopping with wild, wicked energy. Tasteless, hilariously overwrought, and full of memorable sight-gags (like a picnic that gets ruined by ants). The flashing numbers on the screen related to a crazy theatrical gimmick called "Odorama". Leave it to John Waters to come up with the first scratch-and-sniff comedy. ** from ****

John Waters was still doing really outrageous movies when "Polyester" came out. Portraying suburban Baltimore housewife Francine Fishpaw's (Divine) world falling apart, the movie pulls no punches. I just wish that I could have gotten an Odorama card when I watched the movie; maybe some of the things in the movie weren't to pleasant to smell, but it would have been neat nevertheless.What more to say? That whole sequence where the daughter was at the camp was a hoot. It just goes to show that if John Waters is all about bad taste, then he knows how to do it right. I hope that he keeps making movies forever.