This was not a movie I would have ever chosen to watch. I was lying on the couch last weekend and I fell asleep. My wife came home from the library and wanted to watch this movie. My wife saw that I was asleep with the TV on as usual so she popped the movie in. I woke up the end of the previews. Since I had thought I was going to go back to sleep anyways I did not object to my wife watching the movie. However, I found it too difficult to get back to sleep, yet I was too lazy to get up, and that is how I ended up seeing the movie Connie and Carla.

Connie and Carla stars Nia Vardalos and Toni Collette. Connie and Carla both wanted a career in showbiz, but things just are not going all that well for them.

The two ladies witness a murder done by a guy that they just met a few minutes before, who knew their names. Instead of being quiet they stand up and scream so of course the killers who are some Russian mobsters know who they are. To make matters worse someone stuffed a Kilo of drugs belonging to one of the killers in one of their duffle bags. So the killers are not only looking for their witnesses but for their drugs as well, which the murder victim told them they had before they shot him.

So the girls head off in their station wagon to LA to hide out. The girls are feeling pretty stressed and decide that they need to get drunk. The un-knowingly enter a bar where transvestites perform. When they over hear that one of the acts is leaving and they are having auditions the next day, they decide to dress up like men, who dress up like women and try out. Of course they kill the audition and become big hits as female impersonators.

The mobster is in search of the girls and starts attending dinner theaters all over the country trying to find them. He starts to really enjoy the show tunes.

The bartender at the club where the girls works as impersonators befriends the girls (thinking they are men). The bartender is trying to get re-aquainted with his straight brother after several years. He introduces his brother Jeff (David Duchovny). Connie develops feelings for Jeff of course he thinks that she is a man dressed a woman. They become friends which makes things even more difficult for her.

The movie is big on performances and there are a lot of scenes where Connie and Carla as well as others are performing.

The movie was actually a lot better than I had thought it would be. Sure it is a bit stereotypical, but it was funny, and entertaining. It also has that kind of romantic element to it which my wife really enjoyed. The parts where the mobster is getting in to the show tunes are really funny.

Some may say the movie is like Victor Victoria, or other movies of this type. In fact this one is not as intense and more lightly entertaining. The acting is very good, the characters are believable as both cross dressers, and as women dressed as cross dressers.

The movie has lots of comical scenes where the women are constantly trying to hide the fact they are women, many times this leads to them having to do things really fast to cover up their femininity, much like Robin Williams hides his manhood in Mrs. Doubtfire.

The movie is funny at times and yet at other times it is quite serious. It shows how difficult it can be for family members to accept transvestites even though they love them and want to try to accept them but have difficulty.

Over all this was actually a pretty good movie. When I heard what it was about, I didn’t think I wanted to see it. But because I was so lazy I started to watch it, and it was good enough that I actually stayed on the couch to watch it. The ending was pretty corny, and a sterotypical commedy type ending, and something you are unlikely to see in real life, but one that movies like to end their notes on, when they want the big happy thing to happen. Realists will hate this part of the movie, but the rest of the movie makes up for the ending.

So I surprisingly recommend Connie and Carla.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8