Highly Overrated But Still Good

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

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.

Being a fan of the first "Freeway" with Reese Witherspoon, I wanted to check this out. Upon first viewing, I just wasn't sure. 'Trickbaby' is not a pretty film, and it took a while to adapt, but on second viewing, after the shock wore off, I could thoroughly enjoy "Confessions of A Trickbaby." Lyonne is f_ck%ng hilarious here, her performance is fearless; she is not afraid to be seen vomiting, or shoving food into her mouth, or to be just totally 'busted' on camera. This is the first thing I have seen her in and I am an instant fan. What a performance! Though the film is sleazy and ugly at times, I found myself sympathizing with Lyonnes character, 'White Girl/Crystal'. Her life has obviously been rough, and it has made her a tough, angry girl. She is thrown into prison, where she meets 'Cyclona', another girl whose life has been a rough road. A victim of all kinds of sick abuse, she is an insane serial killer who has visions of one 'Sister Gomez', Gallo's character, who she believes is the answer to all her problems. When the girls find 'Sister Gomez' they discover that this is not the case, in one of the most twisted and perverse endings i have seen in cinema. Technically, this is not as professionally-made as "Freeway", perhaps because it didn't have the financial backing of Oliver Stone. It is hard to imagine, but this cranks up the sleaze level compared to Freeway, which was a fairly twisted film. 'Trickbaby' is a lot darker than that first film, and deals with some more uncomfortable themes, and it is clearly not for all tastes. This is the kind of film that seems to get better after every viewing. I imagine that some day, this might become one of my favorites. I recommend "Confessions" to fans of "bad girl" cinema, and to those who are just tired of all the mainstream garbage coming out of Hollywood these days.

Any film which toplines a teenage bulimic drug addict prostitute criminal sociopath who when she isn't indulging in scarf'n'barf eating binges habitually robs her johns so she can eke out a sordidly meager existence as its anti-heroine is unarguably pushing the limits of good taste and restraint to the breaking point. Well, this shockingly base and savage exploitation stunner not only graphically depicts various acts of all-out depravity in unsparingly explicit detail, but also wallows in a festering sinkhole of unremittingly foul no-holds-barred cinematic scuzziness with a certain lip-smacking fiendish glee. When underage hooker White Girl (the luscious Natasha Lyonne) meets deranged lesbian sexual psychopath serial killer Cyclona (galvanizing spitfire Maria Celedonio) in a brutal juvenile detention center, it's clear right from the start that they are a match made in bad girl hell. Pretty soon the dangerously nutso twosome escape and go on the lam, embarking on a mondo berserko crime spree as they travel cross country to Tijuana, Mexico, where they believe both sanctuary and possible redemption awaits them in the form of demented pedophile cannibal transvestite kiddie-porn making nun (!) Sister Gomez (an amazingly wacked portrayal by "Buffalo '66" auteur Vincent Gallo).Powered along by a pair of laudably fearless, anything-goes, let-it-all-hang-out dynamic and uninhibited performances by Lyonne and Celedonio, loaded to the grimy gills with nonstop seedy thrills, strikingly ferocious violence, and carnal perversions of every conceivable stripe, and rounding things off with a gruesomely over-the-top nasty conclusion that's sure to knock the air out of your lungs, this thoroughly warped and electrifying crime/chase/chicks-in-chains sleaze film take on the classic Grimm Brothers fairytale "Hansel and Gretel" will either delight you with its impressively shameless and aggressive assault-on-your-senses agenda or offend you to the ninth degree for the very same reason. Before you ask precisely which side of the fence I'm on with this particular flick, let me state for the record that any picture which features nifty cameos by John Landis as a hard-nosed judge, David Alan Grier as a scummy sex-crazed shyster lawyer, and "Drugstore Cowboy" 's Max Perlich as a slacker drunk, numerous acts of vicious murder, masturbation, full-frontal shower room nudity, projectile puking by the literal gallon, necrophilia, spray paint-huffing, and a funky, rollicking trashy score that's in equal parts digging rap and ripping surf-rock will always get my vote.

*SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT*I saw both "Freeway" flicks back to back. I was enjoying the first "Freeway" while I was watching it. When it ended though, I felt let down. I kept expecting a payoff scene to appear but it never did. I thought "Freeway" was going to be a B-movie extravaganza with Reese Witherspoon doing her thing as a country girl hooker. Nope. It turns out that the first "Freeway" is just an acting showcase for Witherspoon. I was disappointed. "Freeway II" takes the reins and gallops into B-movie sleaze land. I enjoyed this trip down the freeway a lot more."Freeway II" is a sequel in name only. It has nothing to do with the first one except for a girl going on the run again. This time it's Natasha Lyonne who hits the road after busting out of jail. She hooks up with a nutty serial killer and together they merge onto the freeway to B-movie land. Nuns, guns, hookers and killers mix in this sleaze jambalaya. It's tasty.Natasha Lyonne totally gets it. She plays a hooker named White Girl. Her and her psycho friend, (Maria Celedonio), kill and maim for fun and profit. There is a great scene where the two of them want to relieve the pressures of mass murder and decide to jump into bed for some female fun. Thank the Lord, a hooker who finally has sex. Eureka. Lyonne has the foul mouth hooker act down and is not afraid to get dirty. She made the movie for me. Celedonio was good too and gets topless on many occasions.The first "Freeway" may have been technically the better movie but "Freeway II" picks up the sleaze pace dropped by the first one. If you lean more towards B-insanity like I do, check this one out.

Unfairly sentenced to 25 years for stealing and selling cocaine, Crystal (aka Whitegirl) is sent to a young offenders prison for girls before starting her sentence. She shares a cell with serial killer lesbian Cyclona who plans an escape. The pair break out and go on a cross country run - leaving a trail of bodies behind them. Eventually they find apparent safety in the arms of Sister Gomez in Mexico.I was taken in by the title - it did not have the `Freeway 2' bit in the title when I saw it advertised. Other reviewers have called it weird and trippy and in that regard they are right. However to try and say that this is an enjoyable film simply because it is different is a bit too much for me. While this film may have the odd quality that is of value it has vastly more that is repugnant, puerile or just plain stupid. I'll admit that it is imaginative - but not necessarily in a good way - and that it is certainly different from other films you tend to see in your cinema (especially in this summer blockbuster season) but neither of these means it is a good film. It has moments that are passable and the actual core plot is OK (baring in mind that the core plot, when you strip it down, is Hansel & Gretel) but it is full of such ill-judged touches that all I remember is the bad stuff.The film's tone is bad from the start - vomiting is watched with the sort of eye that feels like it is making something deliberately shocking - like a teenager trying to gross out his parents to get attention. A scene where girls pass a bucket around and vomit in it goes nowhere and seems only to exist for shock value. That the film continues with gory murders for no reason and intertwined sexual imagery just adds to the feeling of a director playing at being `dangerous and daring'. When Cyclona sits over two OAPs she has just butchered and masturbates with an handheld vibrator you know that this is not a film that wants to aspire beyond the gutter.In fact the whole lesbian thing is played for shock and to attract late night TV surfers. The lesbian stuff is all mouth - teasing the audience. However those hoping for some depth in the relationship will be let down - as will those looking for a helping hand to fill those lonely nights, as the love scene is awful. Worse than this is the fact that the film has the repeated suggestion that `alternative sexuality's' are not normal but are caused by extreme situations. This suggestion is offensive - and I'm not reading too much into it. Cyclona equates her love of sex with murder and suffering, she is clearly abnormal and her sexuality is a major way that the film portrays her in this way. Later we find out that the reason she likes girls is simply because she was abused by men in her past - other girls in the prison have similar pasts. This may be the case sometimes but in this film it is the ONLY reason. Crystal makes this even worse by relating to Cyclona by saying she only dates black men because white men abused her - again relating anything that is not `the norm' to abuse as a causation factor.Now at one point the film is moving as Cyclona discovers the degree of her abuse. That moved me. And to be fair the film could have been making a serious point by looking at abuse - but this is not that type of film and the crude brushstrokes that paint the characters (alternate sexuality's stem only from cases of abuse??) are dumb and insulting. Add this to the unrelenting flow of foul language, needlessly voyeuristic sex and violence and you have a real dog of a film. It all feels like the director was trying to be so different that he forgot to make structure or even a good film - he too seems to be under the illusion that a `different' film will sell simply because it is weird or different.The casting continues this trend. Gallo is a total joke - a cross dressing nun-come-witch who speaks in a joke sing-song voice. His cross dressing bares no relevance to the film and again just seems like another ploy to make the film `different'. Lyonne is not very good in the lead - she rarely has any character to speak of and always has an attitude on her that makes it feel like she's only seconds away from saying `whateva'. María Celedonio is really good and is better than the film deserves - she is the sole reason for staying with the film. I admit that I'm biased as I was a little attracted to her looks (tattoos looked good on her thin arms) but she actually manages a good performance out of a shallow character. She brings emotion to the role in a way that is believable and is out of place here. Grier as Crystal's lawyer is funny but again his character is in it for shock value and to make the film `different' - the scene where he sits in a courthouse discussing a plea while his client furiously masturbates him is the height of the humour in the film.Overall this has `cult appeal' written all over it and I think the director wanted that from the outset. I'm sure this will have tonnes of students loving it talking about how it is so dark, weird and different. However it really isn't any good. The film tires so hard to be `different' that it adds things all the time - but the end result is that it feels forced and trashy. I know other reviewers will hate on me for this review because it is one of my stronger ones - but honestly this film sets out to repel, why would I chose to ever watch this again?