Average Rating: 
Rating:  - SIX INCHES FORWARD AND FIVE INCHES BACK!
This is, without a doubt, one of the best movies I have seen in the past five years. And believe me, I've seen hundreds in that time.
John Cameron Mitchell is the classic tragic hero, lured into a drastic operation to flee his homeland and be with his sugar daddy. When it all falls apart, poor Hedwig is left to latch onto who he/she can become one with. Again, everything falls apart, and by the end of the story, our valiant warrior princess must either love herself or perish. A dark sense of humor keeps this movie from being just another cheap gimmick flick.
One of the things that makes this picture work, besides the acting, is the music. The songs are as twisted and funny as the rest of the movie, and help convey the underlying depression even better. I dance and sing to this movie in the same way my mother used to dance to "Grease," and I'm a "Hellraiser" fan! Plus, it sounds even more fantasic if you have a DTS sound system.
I recommend this to anyone who likes something with more to say than the average movie, and doesn't mind what seems odd at first.
Rating: - A must-see film, sure to be a cult hit
I just got to see this film as part of a film festival, prior to its national release, and it is fantastic! Like both "Rocky Horror" and "Tommy," it is filled with over-the-top excess, great original rock songs, and interesting characters--esp. Hedwig/Handel her/himself. We learn about Hedwig, a refugee from the former East Berlin, via a series of flashbacks, often during performances of Hedwig's "internationally unknown" band, The Angry Inch, as it continues its national tour of low-rent seafood restaurants, always near where famous rock star Tommy Gnosis is playing (but don't say she is stalking him, even if he did steal all her songs and broke her heart). The ending is unexpected yet satisfying, as Hedwig comes to understand the origin of love. Filled with witty dialogue, biting song lyrics (including new songs just for the film), and unique visual imagery, "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" is a must-see tour-de-force that already has a cult following (thanks to the success of the off-Broadway show and the success of the film at Sundance). I can't wait to get the soundtrack, and eventually the video/DVD!
Rating: - 'HEDWIG' "hed"-tastic! A must see!
Probably one of the most flamboyant transfers from "stage to screen" I've seen in a long time, "HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH" leaves those who experiences it smeared with cheap glittery lipstick and enough gender-bending enuendo to boot. John Cameron Mitchell and Steven Trask created the rock star, glitter drag queen punk rock world of Hedwig with so much depth and jocularity that not only is Hedwig fun and entertaining, but thought provoking, nasty, and infectious. We become sympathetic for Hedwig; rooting for her in all her anti-hero rock star best and worst of times. Not only is Hedwig determined to live his/her tragically down and out rock star dream, but discover the missing fabled "other half" that completes him as a person, two beings become one in a portrait of all-encompassing love. "HEDWIG" and Mitchell, who does such a wonderful job directing and playing Hedwig (since he originated the role), are absolutely spellbinding by blatantly inviting you into burn and afterglow of Hedwig's story. Masterfully directed, filmed, scripted, highlighted by blazing moments of shear musical punk rock bliss (the animations are great too!), "HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH" is a gem of art house cinema. When "RENT" hasn't payed yet, and "TOMMY" still can't hear or see you, then rock opera be damned! "HEDWIG" IS HERE!
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