Set during the McCarthy era this tends to be a tad tongue-in-cheek, but all in all it isn't that bad of a flick. Three young ladies arrive at the prison during the ‘50's and become friends, bringing a fourth into their group, an innocent young miss by the name of Nicolette Scorsese (yeah, and I can walk on ceilings too).

The background on these ladies and the basis of the movie:
Melba (Bahni Turpin) murdered a TV commentator after he showed a picture of her brother's corpse on television. Not caring for the ‘Red Regime', his commentary was less than forgiving. Did I mention that she killed him on live TV?

Carol (Ione Skye) got involved in a barroom brawl that ended in the death of a loud-mouthed jerk with an attitude after she found out a play she had written against McCarthy was thrown out and her actor-father fell into a coma. Poor thing, things just weren't going her way at all!

Aggie (Missy Crider) innocently accused and convicted of murdering a record company executive (Jon Polito) who got a tad bit too frisky with her when she went to him to promote her new country-western song ‘Endless Sleep'.

Oh, No, that ain't all honey! There's more snakes in this wood pile than Harrison Ford ever saw in Raiders of the Lost Ark
Suzy (Nicolette Scorsese) is a hitman .... er ..... hit woman, hired by the partner of the deceased record company exec and the deceased exec's secretary, a complete sociopath played by Anne Heche and her buddy Angie Ray McKinney. There's more ......

Melba contacts a good friend, Harvey Chao, who recruits a private detective, Miquel Sandoval, to search into the background of the murder of the record exec, knowing that Missy Crider is totally innocent. Of course, Heche, McKinney and company have since released the moving tune ‘Endless Sleep' and Crider is fully ticked off about this, claiming - Hey! That's MY song!

Surely you don't think I am done?
Let's take a count here: the three women in prison, Turpin, Skye and Crider, have befriended the undercover hitperson, Scorsese, who was hired by the dead record company executive's partner, Nestor Serrano, and his compatriots in crime, Heche and McKinney. In turn, Turpin has contacted her buddy, Chao, to hire a P.I., Sandoval, to track down the true killers of Polito. In the meantime, Heche and McKinney have released Crider's song, bringing attention to themselves.

Had enough yet, or are ya begging for more?
OK, twist my arm - here are some clinchers. Word goes out in the prison that there is a hitperson hired on the inside to eliminate Crider, who is just too sweet and innocent for words anyway. A riot breaks out, at the conclusion of a delicious striptease by inmates (a sight to behold!) and Turpin and Skye hover around to protect Crider, figuring correctly that the riot was just a false front to get a chance for Scorsese to complete her ‘contract' on Crider.

Scorsese, realizing she is a complete failure at her mission and will lose the admiration of her lover on the outside, who just happens to be Serrano, takes her own life.

HA! Bet ya thought that was the end of the story didn't ya? Think again friends......
In the meantime, Heche, who is absolutely insane (and totally brilliant in this part) arranges to get herself arrested and sent to prison so that she can finish the mission that Scorsese failed at so miserably.

I won't give anymore of the story away, but I will mention there is a prison-sanctioned potato sack race in the prison yard, designed by the authorities to flush out the hitperson. THAT, my fellow movie buffs, is something I will leave to your imagination, as will I leave the end of the movie.

Sitting on the sidelines
This was a decent spoof. Normally I'm not a spoof fan, but darn it, this one took me by surprise. For one thing, you aren't totally convinced that it is a spoof all the way through. There are times you believe this is supposed to be an actual movie - fool!

The acting was more than decent, Heche was incredible. Is she really a psycho (pardon the pun) or is she really just that good of an actress? Took me a second to recognize her with that long, flowing dark hair, but she looked durn good.

The balance of the actors/actresses did a plausible job, considering what they had to work with. There were times, though, that you just wanted to pinch Missy Crider's head clean off her shoulders, she was just so sickening sweet and naive.

The filming wasn't bad for a movie of this genre but the story line was a bit trite and unbelievable. Then again, it was supposed to be! Heck, I enjoyed it and I'll recommend it. Have a good time and enjoy that potato sack race ..... lol .....

Staring: Missy Crider, Ione Skye, Anne Heche, Nicolette Scorsese, Bahni Turpin, Jon Polito, Nestor Serrano, Miguel Sandoval, Richmond Arquettem Angie Ray McKinney, Harvey Chao and Tamara Clatterbuck (don't ya just love it?). Directed by John McNaughton.

Cute, very cute.





Recommended: Yes