Hedwig and the Angry Inch

An East German transsexual (writer/director John Cameron Mitchell) tours the U.S. with her rock band, reminiscing about her checkered past while following the ex-lover who stole her songs on his way to superstardom. Adapting his off-Broadway success, Mitchell struts and preens like Tim Curry in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, doing Marlene Dietrich where Curry did Mick Jagger. More than just a campy stunt, the film delves into questions of love and identity, all set to driving, irresistible glam-rock songs by Stephen Trask. Trask’s score—flippant, poignant, infectious—is the movie’s secret weapon, along with Mitchell’s chin-high showbiz strut and strong pop-rock David Bowie-style voice. For all its gender-bending impudence, at heart it’s an old-fashioned barrel-of-fun rock-and-roll musical.