The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

A very human drama, well acted, and very good fun!

The core of Stephen Elliott’s movie about three drag queens on a no-hope road trip from Sydney to Alice Springs is a warm-hearted tale about yearning for family.

It's a tremendous film that was ahead of its time on LGBT issues and, in some ways, is ahead of ours.

On the whole, though, it is funny and compassionate, silly and sweet.

To its credit, whenever things get too treacly, Priscilla knows enough to break out those frocks and get the show in gear. That is entertainment for sure.

Not everything works equally well in this road movie, but writer-director Stephan Elliott keeps things watchable.

The Adventures of Priscilla is a musical, a comedy of gay manners and a daring comment on the price of being different in a hostile world.

Priscilla is more gay-positive than the 90-some percent of movies that ignore gays completely or put us down. It returns glamour to the screen as only drag queens can do -- outrageously and preposterously.

The ending is cozy and unrealistic, but one can appreciate Elliot’s wanting to make a jolly piece of gay pop.

While this concept has definite fun appeal, the movie lacks follow-through.