Shadows on the Wall | Stop! That! Train!

Stop! That! Train!

dir Adam Shankman
scr Christina Friel, Connor Wright
prd Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato, Tom Campbell, RuPaul Charles, Adam Shankman
with RuPaul Charles, Ginger Minj, Jujubee, Latrice Royale, Brooke Lynn Hytes, Marty Lauer, Symone, Rachel Bloom, Brian Jordan Alvarez, Chris Parnell, Matt Rogers, Evan Mulrooney, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Missi Pyle, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, June Diane Raphael
release US 12.Jun.26
26/US Bleeker Street 1h32

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Director Adam Shankman gleefully admits that this movie is basically Airplane! on a train with drag queens. He also calls it the most important movie ever made. Sure enough, the world is definitely in need of films as ridiculous as this one, overflowing with goofy wordplay, slapstick and sight gags. Fans of RuPaul's Drag Race will also enjoy a the continuous barrage of inside running jokes and catchphrases.

Quick-thinking unemployed train hostesses Tess (Minj) and DeeDee (Jujubee) find jobs on the high-speed Glamazon Express as it heads from Los Angeles to Miami, working alongside mean girl attendants Amber (Hytes), Alli (Lauer) and Ayshleiygh (Symone). But beleaguered track traffic controller Donna (Bloom) spots a stormaganza along the route, alerting US President Gagwell (Charles), who has a tortured military past in Rail Force and doesn’t want to jeopardise her popularity. The conductors (Parnell and Alvarez) aren't up to the task, so Tess and DeeDee need to step up to save the train's passengers from calamity.

Scenes are peppered with cameos ranging from Charo to Joel McHale to Nichole Ritchie to Lisa Rinna, plus of course iconic drag queens. Other stars have featured roles as amusingly obsessive passengers, including Geller as a famous actress, Pyle as a lovelorn divorcee, and Ferguson as a child-phobe. Everything speeds along at such a blinding pace that there's not much time to worry about the dangling plot threads or dodgy digital effects.

Performances are appropriately broad and camp, making the most of the nutty atmosphere, so it's impressive that both Minj and Jujubee manage to interject some underlying feelings here and there. The close-but-strained friendship between Tess and DeeDee is what holds the shambolic narrative together. Charles also finds some texture as Gladwell, ably supported by an up-for-it Rogers as her assistant. And Royale very nearly steals the film as the ubiquitous Barbra.

Refreshingly, there's absolutely nothing serious going on anywhere, as the cast and crew are only interested in making us laugh. And they're never afraid of leaning into the ruder moments. So even if there are multiple gags that land with a thud, and others require prior knowledge of the drag scene, there's always something silly ready to pile right on top of it. It's perhaps too inconsistent to become a classic, but this is the kind of movie a lot of people will want to watch over and over.

themes, language, violence 2.Jun.26

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