
Female Trouble
1975, Drama/Comedy, 1h 35m
26 Reviews 5,000+ RatingsWhat to know
critics consensus
Director John Waters' affection for camp brings texture to societal transgression in Female Trouble, a brazenly subversive dive into celebrity and mayhem. Read critic reviews
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Female Trouble Photos
Movie Info
Cast & Crew
Dawn Davenport , Earl Peterson
Donald Dasher
Donna Dasher
Taffy Davenport
Aunt Ida Nelson
Concetta
News & Interviews for Female Trouble
Critic Reviews for Female Trouble
All Critics (26) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (23) | Rotten (3)
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The resulting feast of sex, violence, cruelty, and frivolity mocks sentimental notions of family, work, and love, and turns the egomaniacal furies of pop culture inside out.
December 17, 2018 | Full Review… -
One of John Waters' best and most notorious movies.
April 18, 2002 | Rating: B- -
There is a fierce, maniac brilliance to a John Waters' film which rivets you to your seat for the good reason that if you walked out in the middle... you'd never know what you missed.
November 26, 2019 | Full Review… -
In many ways, Female Trouble treads the same ground as Network. It is a prescient look at what it means to be famous and what happens when we finally cross the line.
August 14, 2019 | Full Review… -
It is this reversal, the realization that the freak is an essential part of a social whole and that beauty falls into contradiction by attempting to be both normative and expressive of individuality, that Female Trouble executes in uproarious fashion.
December 17, 2018 | Full Review… -
A healthy appreciation of both low and high art gives one a balanced perspective that can enhance the understanding of both aspects... Female Trouble uses this concept of the duality of ugliness and beauty in the characterization of Dawn.
November 7, 2018 | Full Review…
Audience Reviews for Female Trouble
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Aug 20, 2018While this revolting film is daring, funny and provocative for quite some time, soon it becomes insufferable with a bunch of people shrieking around without end and yelling at each other for much longer than our patience can take (hell, of course, this is John Waters).Carlos M Super Reviewer
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Oct 15, 2011This is one of Waters' more political comedies, it's hilarious to watch, so campy and yet you can't help but laugh at the stupid dialogues.Sylvester K Super Reviewer
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Jul 29, 2009Featuring virtually the same cast as the more famous "Pink Flamingos" and in my opinion, I found it to be not as good as its predecessed, but it is still a decent flix with a bizarre story, good exploitation values.and quite amusing scenes for which the film isn't a complete waste.John M Super Reviewer
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Dec 05, 2008"I wanted Cha Cha heels" screams the 300 pound drag queen, before heading off to a life of murder, disfigurement, and stardom. Divine's speech at the end is one of the greatest things ever.Shane D Super Reviewer
Female Trouble Quotes
Dawn's Mother: | Not on CHRISTMAS!!! |
Dawn's Mother: | Not on Christmas! |
Dawn Davenport: | Thank you! I love you! Thank you! Thank you from the bottom of my black little heart! You came here for some excitement tonight and that's just what you're going to get! Take a good look at ME because I'm going to be on the front of every newspaper in this country tomorrow! You're looking at crime personified AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT! I framed Leslie Bacon! I called the heroin hot line on Abby Hoffman! I bought the gun that Bremmer used to shoot Wallace! I had an affair with Juan Corona! I blew Richard Speck! And I'm so fucking beautiful I can't stand it myself! Now, everybody freeze! Who wants to be famous? Who wants to DIE for art? |
Dawn Davenport: | Thank you! I love you! Thank you! Thank you from the bottom of my black little heart! You came here for some excitement tonight and that's just what you're going to get! Take a good look at ME because I'm going to be on the front of every newspaper in this country tomorrow! You're looking at crime personified AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT! I framed Leslie Bacon! I called the heroin hot line on Abby Hoffman! I bought the gun that Bremmer used to shoot Wallace! I had an affair with Juan Corona! I blew Richard Speck! And I'm so fucking beautiful I can't stand it myself! Now, everybody freeze! Who wants to be famous? Who wants to DIE for art? |
Taffy Davenport: | Why can't I go to school? Why can't I have friends? |
Dawn Davenport: | You can't go to school because I said so. I won't have you nagging me for lunch money and whining for help on your homework. There is no need to know about presidents, wars, numbers or science. Just listen to me and you'll learn. And no little friends over here, repeating rhymes, asking flippant questions, and talking in those nagging baby voices. Can't you just sit here and look out into the air? Isn't that enough? Do you always have to badger me for attention? |
Dawn Davenport: | Davenport. Dawn Davenport! I'm a thief and a shitkicker, and, uh, I'd like to be famous. |
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