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...
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Danny is a struggling black actor/waiter, and his ex-partner Pip lives a comfortable upper-class existence with his overly controlling mother whose racist tendencies are very evident. And this is primarily the reason for their breakup. Danny is taking a course in private investigation in preparation for a possible role. There are a series of robberies happening in gay sex parties but none of the victims is contacting the police for the fear of being outed. These are all profile people. When Pip becomes the latest victim, he asks Danny to take up this case. As pissed as Danny is about his playboy nature and insensitivity, the residual spark still between them motivates the actor to help, however reluctantly. They come up with ideas with the hep of Danny's teacher to uncover this suspense. The finale or the reality when exposed is not as exciting as one would expect, but nevertheless, I don't think that shocking the audience was ever the expectation. But Pip's current bf coming out as one of the culprits really doesn't surprise.
I thought the acting was a little amateurish by the leads, despite this being an attempt for a comedy-thriller. I think a little more polish from the lead actors could have made a huge difference. Nonetheless they were cute, specially Danny. The mother was the worst actor. Similarly, the reason for the loots and the actors doing it, doesn't seem very convincing or menacing. But if you look from the comic angle, the amateur bumbling of Danny and Pip, makes it funny while downplaying the violence. The movie is essentially a comedy in the guise of a thriller, finding room along the way for effective moments of drama, romance and insider Hollywood jokes. There are some funny dialogues but gets bogged down with too many characters and pointless detours from the main story.
Good concept and a better direction could have given this movie a possibility of sequels. Still not bad. (6/10)
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