When Mangus Spedgwick suffers an unforeseen tragedy that causes him to lose the role of Jesus in his high school's production of Jesus Christ Superstar, he fights with all he's got to get back the part, and carry on the family tradition.
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Simply Perfect
Excellent but underrated film
Best movie ever!
The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
Mangus is about a likable and talented teen right out of the '70s TV show Fame, who's always wanted to play Jesus in his town's Jesus Christ Superstar knockoff, but then loses the use of his legs in a car accident after winning the role. It's got the feel (and shares some cast members) as Christopher Guest/Rob Reiner films like Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration, highly improvised if not as well written. There's even a crazy John Waters cameo (as if anything he's ever done ISN'T crazy).Only one other review of it on IMDb so far, and I pretty much agree that much of the film falls a bit short script-wise, but it's an interesting premise with some strong performances. It's introduced on DVD as an example of "queer filmmaking" for some reason, tho I'm not sure why (other than a few characters do seem to be gay) - if anything, it's kind of devout, which is no mean feat in a movie that has John Waters in it!
Mangus! is an interesting early work by Ash Christian, but shows that he is a better director than writer. The offbeat comedy about a kid who just wants to follow in his father's footsteps has a few hilarious moments, and a lot of untapped potential. Stellar performances by Leslie Jordan, Jennifer Coolidge and Deborah Theaker make this movie worth seeing. They manage to bring cartoonish characters to life in a wholly believable way. But fully half the lines of dialogue are pointless -- they are not funny and do not advance the plot. Often, they merely restate something that's already been said, or that could be conveyed better non-verbally. The dramatic potential of several plot points (like ending up in Hollywood, Florida rather than Hollywood, California) is underutilized. It's almost as if Christian didn't want to put in the time to polish a good script, or -- more likely -- that writing is not his forte.
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