To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995)
Movie · 1995 · Comedy, Drama · 1h 48m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 2.0/10 (41.4K ratings)
Attitude is everything.
Overview
Manhattan drag queens Vida Boheme and Noxeema Jackson impress regional judges in competition, securing berths in the Nationals in Los Angeles. When the two meet pathetic drag novice Chi-Chi Rodriguez — one of the losers that evening — the charmed Vida and Noxeema agree to take the hopeless youngster under their joined wing. Soon the three set off on a madcap road trip across America and struggle to make it to Los Angeles in time.
Ratings
Curator score: 2.0/10
IMDb: 6.8/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 49%
Metacritic: 60
TMDB: 7.4/10
Director
Beeban Kidron
Production
Amblin Entertainment, Universal Pictures
Cast
Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes, John Leguizamo, Stockard Channing, Blythe Danner, Arliss Howard, Jason London, Chris Penn, Melinda Dillon, Beth Grant, Alice Drummond, Marceline Hugot, Jennifer Milmore, Jamie Harrold, Mike Hodge, Michael Vartan, RuPaul, Julie Newmar, Joel Story, Abie Hope Hyatt
Where to watch
Peacock Premium, Peacock Premium Plus
Curator Review
Verdict
A warm, crowd-pleasing road comedy with a sincere heart, strong star turns, and a gently subversive drag-positive spirit. It’s uneven and very much of its era, but the charm, chemistry, and feel-good momentum still land.
Best for
fans of 90s studio comedies with a big heart
viewers who like road-trip ensemble stories
audiences interested in drag culture and queer mainstream cinema
people who enjoy fish-out-of-water small-town comedies
Skip if
you want sharp, modern queer writing without dated jokes
you’re sensitive to broad 90s comedy and sentimental plotting
you prefer realism over camp and crowd-pleasing uplift
Overview
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar is a glossy, good-natured road movie that turns drag into a vehicle for kindness, performance, and self-invention. The premise is simple, but the film gets a lot of mileage out of its trio’s chemistry and the contrast between polished urban glamour and small-town conservatism.
Worth noting
Its biggest strength is how it treats drag as both spectacle and armor: the characters are larger than life, but the movie is also interested in the labor of making a persona and the emotional work of helping others feel seen. The supporting-town material can be broad, and some jokes are dated, but the film’s generosity keeps it afloat.
Bottom line
What lingers is the sense of a mainstream comedy making room for queer joy at a time when that still felt unusual. It’s not the sharpest or most nuanced film in the genre, but it remains appealing because it is sincere, polished, and unabashedly affectionate toward its characters.
Top Letterboxd reviews
christine🌞 (4.5★) · 11466 likes
Places for homos
1. Flower shops
2. Ballet schools
3. Flight attendents lounges
4. Restaurants for brunch
5. Antique shops
vi (4.5★) · 10327 likes
"look, that little latin boy in drag is crying. find out why that little latin boy in drag is crying."
"little latin boy in drag, why are you crying?"
sarah · 8609 likes
the old woman who literally only speaks to talk about movies.....representation at last
lisa (5★) · 5574 likes
rupaul coming down from the ceilings as a queen named "rachel tensions" in a confederate flag dress saved my gpa and filled my bank account
1996 · Comedy, Romance · 1h 59m · R · Curator 7.8/10 (359.1K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Peacock Premium, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Peacock Premium Plus
A polished, crowd-pleasing queer farce that balances camp, family tension, and mainstream accessibility.
1959 · Comedy, Romance, Crime · 2h 3m · NR · Curator 9.7/10 (658.9K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, MGM Plus, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
The essential cross-dressing comedy: fast, funny, romantic, and foundational for later mainstream gender-bending films.