A wickedly funny mockumentary looking at beauty pageants that leaves no stone unturned in its efforts to make fun of every facet of small-town life in Minnesota. Drop Dead Gorgeous stars Kirstie Alley and Ellen Barkin as the mothers of the two teen-aged girls with the best shot of winning the coveted title of Sarah Rose American Teen Princess. Alley is Gladys Leeman, who organizes and runs the pageant with an iron fist in a satiny glove. That's only fitting since she won the pageant herself when she was her daughter's age. Barkin is Annette Atkins, who doesn't seem to do much aside from drink beer and do hair. The former of the two becomes a problem for Annette later in the movie.

The lovely Denise Richards and Kirsten Dunst play the daughters of these two women. Richard is Becky Leeman, who seems destined to win easily thanks to her mother's subterfuge. Dunst is Amber Atkins, who wants nothing more than to leave Mount Rose Minnesota on her way to become a television journalist like her idol, Diane Sawyer. They are polar opposites, the Evil and Good of this year's crop of pageant contestants. The contrasts is responsible for the strongest tension in this film.

If the idea of satirizing a beauty pageant doesn't sound new, relax. It isn't. It was done far better in Smile, one of the most underrated movies of the mid 1970s. Starring Barbara Feldon of Get Smart fame and Bruce Dern, Smile was also the first credited motion picture role for two well known actresses, Melanie Griffith and Annette O'Toole. I mention Smile because while Drop Dead Gorgeous will make you laugh, it pales by comparison to its predecessor.

In spite of suffering by comparison, Drop Dead Gorgeous will make you laugh. It seems at times to be a cross between Fargo and Something About Mary although without the brilliant writing of the former and with not quite the raunch of the latter. Drop Dead Gorgeous is also a dark film, as Becky's potential competition begins dying off in unexplained mishaps.

It is Allison Janney, as the woman who lives next door to the Atkins women who sparkles in Drop Dead Gorgeous. Please, let us see more of the talented Ms Janney. She was awesome.

If you're thinking of renting Drop Dead Gorgeous, do so, but you'd have more fun if you're fortunate enough to find a copy of Smile on the video store shelf. But you'll get the requisite laughs either way.