WillSushyMedia
This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.
Portia Hilton
Blistering performances.
Raymond Sierra
The film may be flawed, but its message is not.
Isbel
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
SnoopyStyle
In Baltimore, Francine Fishpaw (Divine) only wants to be a normal suburban housewife. The problem is that her husband Elmer shows pornos in his theater and the neighbors are demonstrating on their front lawn. Her kids are flirtatious Lu-Lu and foot-obsessed Dexter. There is a notorious Baltimore Foot Stomper on the loose. Elmer is cheating with his secretary. Dexter gets expelled from school. Lu-Lu fails every class and gets knocked up by pathetic thug Bo-Bo.John Waters is reveling in deliberate bad acting, satirical craziness and outrageous story. It's weird and that's how he likes it but it isn't big laughs funny. It's not for everyone and it's not really even for me. The big plus of this movie is the charismatic Divine. She brings a humanity to her unreal character.
d-millhoff
...in context of John Waters' reality...Polyester is a perfect balance between Waters' somehow-charming trademark gross-out sleaze (in explaining the character of Baltimore, he calls those movies "documentaries") and major - picture production values.Packed with his regular ensemble of - uh - actors, a (closet homosexual) 50's heartthrob, hysterical social satire, and ODORAMA, this movie has something to purturb EVERYONE several times over.For the mild-mannered, it's much easier to take than his early debaucheries, while for die- hard Waters fans, it retains the hammy, outlandish - uh - acting that helps make his movies so eccentric.
CMRKeyboadist
John Waters is truly a great director. I had seen Pink Flamingoes but not to much of his earlier work. I am more familiar with his later works like Serial Mom or Cecil B. Demented, which is all great stuff. Polyester is the bridge, as so many people put it, between his disgusting yet entertaining earlier work to more mainstream films like Hairspray.Divine plays Francine Fishpaw. A rather large lady who is married to a man who owns a pornographic theater. Her son is a drug attic who loves to smash womens feet and her daughter is a wannabe Go-Go dancer who gets herself pregnant. Francine has only one friend in the world and that is Cuddles who is wonderfully played by Edith Massey. After Francine catches her husband sleeping with another woman (Mink Stole) Francine's life starts going into a downward spiral as she can't control her children and she becomes an alcoholic. Only, when she meets a man named Todd Tomorrow (Tab Hunter) do things start to change... or do they? I had a grin on my face throughout the whole movie. The storyline sounds pretty depressing but only John Waters could have pulled this off and turn it into a complete comedy. Divine is right at home in her role as Francine. You truly do feel completely sorry for her. Edith Massey is excellent in the role as Cuddles and is definitely the most likable character in the whole movie. What made this movie so great for me was when this came out in theaters I was to young to see this. I just recently bought it on DVD and it comes with an actual Scratch N' Sniff card for the movie! Great stuff! This movie gets a 9/10 from me.
NateManD
I love John Waters movies. Whether it's his old or new films. He has his own strange sense of humor. In "Polyester" Devine plays down to earth overweight housewife Francine Fishpaw. Poor Francine, her husband who runs the local porn theater (pronounced thee-ater) is having an affair. Her own mother insults her constantly, her son is a glue sniffer with a foot stomping fetish and her daughter Lu-Lu is a teen rebel with an unwanted pregnancy. The only true friend Francine has is Cuddles, played by the always hilarious Edith Masey. Francine's soap opera like life spins out of control resulting in alcoholism and depression. This movie is filmed in oder-rama and the DVD comes with a scratch and sniff scent card. If you need a good laugh, you should definitely see "Polyester". And who could forget the words of young Lu-Lu? "I'm having an abortion, and I can't wait!" Don't wait .... to see this movie.
