Raised a boy in East Berlin, Hedwig undergoes a personal transformation in order to emigrate to the U.S., where she reinvents herself as an “internationally ignored” but divinely talented rock diva, inhabiting a “beautiful gender of one.”
The film's not only funny and weird, it's oddly poignant.
– Desson Thomson,
Washington Post,
3 Aug 2001
fresh:
What in any other hands than Mitchell's might have been a sexual sight gag becomes a symbol of personal freedom and expression.
– Terry Lawson,
Detroit Free Press,
17 Aug 2001
fresh:
Flamboyant, irreverent, naughty and oddly, profoundly moving.
– Susan Stark,
Detroit News,
17 Aug 2001
fresh:
It is fairly short and fairly enjoyable.
– Jay Boyar,
Orlando Sentinel,
31 Aug 2001
rotten:
Those expecting a rockin' good time are likely to be left cold by this screen translation, which despite some imaginative packaging too often proves a drag in more than the sartorial sense.