I recently had the pleasure of seeing John Waters live show followed by a screening of Polyester and we were spoiled and got the Odorama cards! Aside from Waters being hilarious on stage and wonderfully unpolitically correct, the movie is excellent. Completely offbeat, wonderful dysfunctional family, physical comedy, exaggerated characters makes this a classic comedy, even if a bit outdated. I loved it. I only gave it a 9 because of the sound quality and the slightly outdated look, albeit still excellent. Divine's performance is divine... If you didn't now it was a man, you could almost be fooled. Lulu's performance is over the top, so not very credible, but it makes it all the more funny and ludicrous. Dexter is nuts, plain and simple. One does not see this film for its true like story line, but to see over the top blown up characters that make you laugh. This does just that. However, if you ever have the chance to see Waters,' live show, do not miss it!

Residing in the suburbs of Baltimore might sound to some people as the easy life but for Francine Fishpaw (Divine) it's a constant hell storm of disappointment. Her husband Elmer (Samson) is screwing his secretary and is making the evening news in the neighborhood with his x-rated theater. Francine's children are no prize package either. You have Lu-Lu (Garlington), her floozy pregnant daughter, whose aspirations are to quit school, become a go-go dancer, and drink beer with her hoodlum boyfriend Bo-Bo (Bators). And Francine's son Dexter is hooked on sniffing cleaning solvents.Oh yea, he has a major foot fetish too, causing him to creep up on random ladies in shopping centers and smashing their feet. The police have been searching for him and have named him The Baltimore Foot Stomper.Just when her life has finally come crashing down, she meets her Mr. Wonderful in Todd Tomorrow (Hunter). Todd is a high class gentleman who wines and dines Francine and sweeps this lonely housewife off her feet. Longing for affection, Francine may have met the man of her dreams. But will Todd be the real solution for her downward spiral or will her loving family's warmth and support save the day?This is by far one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. Yes, it's a bold statement to make, but its true. I have seen Polyester probably over ten times by now and still laugh at things I know are going to happen. It's a raunchier Hairspray, an improved Pink Flamingos, and in all honesty one of the best exploitation type films to come out of the eighties. I feel that most of John Waters's films carry an acquired taste; he has an unorthodox style and sense of humor. He introduces you to some of the lowest forms of human beings possible and in this film, convinces you to care about them.Devine is amazing in this too. There is no way I could ever imagine any other woman (or man for that matter!) as Francine Fishpaw. He was simply awesome as an abused "Good Christian Woman" who is stuck in a living hell. Tab Hunter's Todd is definitely the most ridiculous character he has ever played and gives cheese ball a whole new meaning. I especially liked Lu-Lu with her constant dancing and wild attitude. Honestly, each actor's character is so unique it's hard not to mention them all.If you're looking for a really good laugh and a strange movie Polyester is the ticket. John Waters hit pay dirt with this movie. Hairspray or Cry Baby may be his bigger films that carry more notoriety, but Polyester is a gem more valuable than any other.

I love John Waters movies. Whether it's his old or new films. He has his own strange sense of humor. In "Polyester" Devine plays down to earth overweight housewife Francine Fishpaw. Poor Francine, her husband who runs the local porn theater (pronounced thee-ater) is having an affair. Her own mother insults her constantly, her son is a glue sniffer with a foot stomping fetish and her daughter Lu-Lu is a teen rebel with an unwanted pregnancy. The only true friend Francine has is Cuddles, played by the always hilarious Edith Masey. Francine's soap opera like life spins out of control resulting in alcoholism and depression. This movie is filmed in oder-rama and the DVD comes with a scratch and sniff scent card. If you need a good laugh, you should definitely see "Polyester". And who could forget the words of young Lu-Lu? "I'm having an abortion, and I can't wait!" Don't wait .... to see this movie.

After several years of crudely made, crudely funny films such as PINK FLAMINGOS, director John Waters graduated to a somewhat more sophisticated style, and POLYESTER has a comparatively (note the word: comparatively) subtle script, cinematography that doesn't shake, sets and props that don't actually look like they were salvaged from the local junkyard, and even a mainstream star: 1950s matinée idol Tab Hunter.The story concerns the extremely dysfunctional Fishpaw family. Husband Elmer is in the porno movie business; daughter Lu-Lu is a mindless teenage slut with a nasty boyfriend; son Dexter is wanted by the law for a sexual fixation that leads him to stomp women's feet! And then there is the mother, poor Francine, extra large and utterly at sea, hoping against hope for middle class respectability in the midst of it all.Tab Hunter (who is even more of a stud here than in his earlier pretty-boy days) romancing female-impersonator Divine is a major draw, and there is enough hilarity--ranging from a nun-enforced hayride for single pregnant women during a rainstorm to a black gospel singer who hijacks a bus to chase down a juvenile delinquent--to keep the show rolling, and the satirical edge is often quite effective.Even so, POLYESTER lacks the same shock appeal that made Water's earlier work so entertaining--and it is a tremendous pity that we can't experience the film in its original "ODORAMA." Recommended, but primarily for Waters fans interested in seeing him in his transitional phase.Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer