Coming out of the same studio that gave us RuPaul's Drag Race, and stacked with a whole crew of former contestants, Stop! That! Train! plays like RuPaul basically taking a bow for the entire franchise she's built. It's not really a gay film in the traditional sense, but with so many drag stars from Ru's shows popping up alongside a few cameos from well known out gay actors, I figured it earns a spot on this blog anyway. The whole thing is completely over the top, packed with GenZ slang, loud flashy visuals, and humor that's constantly winking at you knowing how ridiculous it is. Going in you'd assume it's meant to be a laugh riot, and a lot of critics online seem to be eating it up, but I just couldn't get into it at all. I've never really been someone who vibes with campy silly stuff like this, so honestly my reaction doesn't surprise me one bit. The setup follows Tess and DeeDee, two low level stewardesses who sneak onto the fancy Glamazonian E...
The premise is quite simple. Freddie and Stuart are an old gay couple who have been together for nearly 50 years. Their lives now revolve around entertaining their frequent guests and hurling insults at each other at every opportunity. Ash is a young handsome man who is their new neighbor. Their long term single friend Violet who is looking out for a man in her life. And then an old lady, who just keeps forgetting everything every minute and finally another guy who no one just cares about.
I can imagine that not everyone would like the show. You have to have an appetite for dark sometimes even morbid humour and be a fan of sarcasm. The dialogues and the sarcasm that is in Freddie's character is simply outstanding. And every time Stuart's mother calls him, that is superb too. My favorite is every time Stuart introduces Ash to Violet. Thats hilarious. Stereotypical characters in a brand new light. Excellent casting, perfectly matched the roles and the actors. The witty and snappy comments compliment the new character types not too often seen on TV. Original script with lines you can use in an everyday life. Agreed that the show is hammy and over the top but I think that's what I liked about it most. It's ridiculous and I think the ridiculousness is what makes it so brilliant.
I think the job is successfully done when a viewer doesn't mind watching something again and I would definitely not mind watching this show again with friends. It was simply funny. (8/10)
Update Jan'14: Just saw the Christmas special episode. I think my expectations were way too high, so I was a little disappointed but it was still very very good. Violet definitely is my fav character in this show.
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