MOVIE · 1990

Cry-Baby

ComedyMusicalRomance85 min

In 1954, prim schoolgirl Allison Vernon-Williams goes against her society grandmother’s wishes when she falls for Wade “Cry-Baby” Walker, a motorcycle-riding delinquent at the center of his high school’s bad-boy mythology. Johnny Depp is Cry-Baby, whose famous single tear and rock ’n’ roll magnetism turn him into every girl’s obsession, while Amy Locane’s Allison is drawn from the world of proper “squares” into his louder, looser orbit. John Waters frames their romance as a send-up of Eisenhower-era teen culture, mixing doo-wop, slapstick, and juvenile-delinquent melodrama with a supporting cast that includes Iggy Pop, Ricki Lake, Traci Lords, and Susan Tyrrell.