Cry-Baby

It Came From Baltimore is the most boring featurette ever to appear on a DVD. The insights from writer/director John Waters are fascinating. The insights from the film historian are tedious, elongated and dull. Nobody knows why he's talking about the film and nobody knows how long he's going to do it. He is the man in the corner at a party. Nobody invited him and nobody is brave enough to ask him to leave.

The varied selection of film clips used to demonstrate Hollywood's obsession with juvenile delinquency is enjoyable to watch and helps to illustrate the points made about American culture in and around the Fifties. However, there is a limit to how long one can listen to a bald man, who resembles the White House Communications Director in The West Wing, talking about American social problems over 50 years ago. The discussions stray far from the film itself and soon all anyone is talking about are there memories of a forgotten decade.

Once again, the producers of this DVD get it into their heads that fans want to spend hours hearing about the budget constraints on Cry-Baby, compared with the costs impaired on Waters's previous work. Even aficionados are not usually interested in the accounts of their beloved motion pictures.

The deleted scenes were cut because they were too long and would have clearly distracted people from the main musical numbers. Watching them here is an exclusive treat, as some of the scenes are dazzling. The sound quality is superb and so is the picture quality. Kudos and applause must be given to whoever decided not to add a photo gallery in the extras package.

However, one leaves the special features menu feeling somewhat disappointed. The space has been poorly used. Where are the lyrics for the songs? Why couldn't they have included a feature where one could jump straight to the musical numbers?

Crying over spilt milk is useless. Crying over this DVD is understandable. On the one hand, it's a bittersweet story of love between stereotypes. On the other, it's a wasted opportunity to rejuvenate a film with a cracking DVD.