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Programme Information

Filmed in documentary style, this movie focuses upon the build-up to the beauty contest and the way in which the contestants try to win in a small Minnesota town.

Everyone involved in the contest knows that only one thing counts. It isn't talent, fitness, or taking part; it's making sure you are number one and getting to the top in any possible way.

Amber Atkins (Kirsten Dunst), the poor girl who practises her tap routine while beautifying cadavers at the local morgue. Becky Ann Leeman (Denise Richards), the rich girl whose mother Gladys (Kirstie Alley) was the queen in her day. And it's her mum who is organising the whole shindig.

Gradually, Becky and her mum bump off the other contestants - a tractor explosion, bullet to the head, 200-pound overhead light falling off the rig.

One girl is sufficiently accident-prone to avoid Becky's attention. Opening her shirt to show the scar where her dog attacked her, Tess Weinhaus (Shannon Nelson) doesn't seem unduly affected by the experience: "They remade the belly with skin from my butt."

With some hilarious cameos and top lines all delivered in that odd, singsong Minnesota twang, this is a comedy that shouldn't be missed. Yah, you betcha.

Keywords:

Comedy, Documentary, Black Comedy, Movie, Film, Movies, Films

Additional Information:

(1999) (4 Star)

Cast:

Kirsten Dunst	.... Amber Atkins
Ellen Barkin	.... Annette Atkins
Allison Janney	.... Loretta
Denise Richards	.... Rebecca 'Becky' Ann Leeman
Kirstie Alley	.... Gladys Leeman
Sam McMurray	.... Lester Leeman

Supporting Cast:

Mindy Sterling	.... Iris Clark
Brittany Murphy	.... Lisa Swenson
Amy Adams	.... Leslie Miller
Laurie A. Sinclair	.... Michelle Johnson
Shannon Nelson	.... Tess Weinhaus
Tara Redepenning	.... Molly Howard
Sarah Stewart	.... Jenelle Betz
Alexandra Holden	.... Mary Johanson
Brooke Bushman	.... Tammy Curry

Directors:

Michael Patrick Jann

Writers:

Lona Williams

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