Die Mommie Die! (2003)

64% of critics liked it
(59 reviews)
66% of users liked it
(2,673 ratings)

Playwright, performer, and drag queen Charles Busch appears in the leading role as aging pop star Angela Arden in the darkly comic melodrama Die Mommie Die. Based on Busch's own play, this film marks the directorial debut of Mark Rucker. In 1967, Angela's career has hit bottom and she's trapped in a… More Playwright, performer, and drag queen Charles Busch appears in the leading role as aging pop star Angela Arden in the darkly comic melodrama Die Mommie Die. Based on Busch's own play, this film marks the directorial debut of Mark Rucker. In 1967, Angela's career has hit bottom and she's trapped in a loveless marriage to film producer Sol Sussman (Philip Baker Hall). She gets involved in an affair with unemployed TV actor Tony Parker (Jason Priestley). After Sol suddenly dies, Angela's daughter Edith (Natasha Lyonne) plots a conspiracy of revenge and enlists the help of her brother, Lance (Stark Sands). Also featuring Nora Dunn and Frances Conroy. Busch has previously appeared in drag for the film adaptation of his play Psycho Beach Party in 2000. Die Mommie Die premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 30 min.
Directed By: Mark Rucker
Written By: Charles Busch
Genres: Comedy

In Theaters: Oct 31, 2003 Wide
On DVD: Jun 29, 2004
Studio: Sundance Film Series

Critic Reviews

Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee
It plugs ahead on the stamina and sheer nerve of its author-star.
Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel
You quickly start to realize that there's not much of a movie here.
Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Cheesy, corny and cheap. In other words, it's everything writer-star Charles Busch wanted his spoof of B-movies to be.
Robert Denerstein, Denver Rocky Mountain News
Aside from meeting a memorable character -- an aging pop diva with self-dramatizing flair -- this comedy thrives on arch melodrama and movie smarts.
Michael Booth, Denver Post
How can you not like a movie where characters spout ridiculous dialogue such as, 'You can't discard me like one of your false eyelashes!' and believe every word they're hissing?
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Picture Far From Heaven done as a farce with a drag queen in the Julianne Moore role. Or don't picture it -- Die is still hotly hilarious.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
This drag queen camp farce was an unfunny drag.
Don Willmott, Filmcritic.com
If Far From Heaven had had any sense of humor, it might have looked a little like this.
Kent Turner, Film-Forward.com
An extended skit on The Carol Burnett Show with fleeting full frontal nudity.
Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall
Soapy and trashy, and more than a little bit ludicrous. But there's quite a bit of subtext if you need it.
Thomas Delapa, Boulder Weekly
...Busch drags his campy send-up of Hollywood melodramas to the screen, and honey does it drag.
Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle
Die Mommie Die! seems more like an amateur revue, perfectly all right for what it is, but not meant to be seen beyond an audience of friends and family.
Josh Bell, Las Vegas Weekly
This is such a smug, self-satisfied film that it will leave a bad taste in your mouth, whether you're a fan of old melodramas or not.
Shawn Levy, Oregonian
It's a tawdry, silly and self-satisfied film, but in the best ways.
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press
A loving homage to every movie Joan Crawford ever barreled her shoulder pads through.

Read all 15 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

El Hombre I

Die Mommie Die is more than a modern take on melodramas from the '50s and '60s in which unpleasant situations were blown out of proportion in order to let people like Bette Davis and Joan Crawford strut their stuff. Imagine stepping back in time, going to the movies and… More
Die Mommie Die is more than a modern take on melodramas from the '50s and '60s in which unpleasant situations were blown out of proportion in order to let people like Bette Davis and Joan Crawford strut their stuff. Imagine stepping back in time, going to the movies and catching a Bette Davis flick, only without Bette Davis. The actress might be missing, but the style, plot elements and acting are all very similar. Cross-dresser Charles Busch in the lead role is every bit as glamorous and classy, even if the humor is not. Everything is sensationalized, twisted and overly dramatic, and like most strong parodies, "Die Mommie Die!" doesn't wear out its' welcome. <a href="http://s273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/goji9000/?action=view¤t=Die.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/goji9000/Die.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Leigh R

Weird beyond belief and very bad acting. Although the acid trip was fantastic.
Daniel P

A very enjoyable send up/homage to Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? type films, this is a funny tale of double-crossings, secrets and murder, starring and written by Charles Busch (who also starred in and wrote Psycho Beach Party, with which this… More
A very enjoyable send up/homage to Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? type films, this is a funny tale of double-crossings, secrets and murder, starring and written by Charles Busch (who also starred in and wrote Psycho Beach Party, with which this film shares a similar tone). There's a really fantastically done LSD trip scene in here, complete with kaleidoscopic colors, black and white flashbacks and gender-bending lip-synching, which really attests to the skill and economy in the making of the film. All of the actors (thankfully) ham it up and seem to be having a great time, and while it's not quite as funny or successful as Psycho Beach Party, it's still another great "Sundance" flick.