The story of two heroic stewardesses who crew up with RuPaul Charles, the President of the USA, to cease a prepare on a collision course with a once-a-century climate occasion, “Stop! That! Train!” is billed as a “true story” the place each scene unfolds “exactly as it happened in real life.” Given such a rare sequence of occasions, it appears tough to consider that this singular chapter in current American historical past isn’t higher identified by the moviegoing public. However which may be as a result of it was solely lined by probably the most elite of stories platforms: World of Surprise, the streaming service that broadcasts “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” a number of of whose stars (absolutely simply coincidentally) determine closely into this movie’s account.
Directed by Adam Shankman, this cheeky, charming feature-length mission from the “Drag Race universe” could resonate most instantly with followers of the truth competitors collection, or a minimum of these audiences preferring to maintain tongue firmly embedded in cosmetically beautified cheek. However interesting performances by Ginger Minj, Jujubee and RuPaul because the aforementioned Commander in Chief preserve this motion comedy catastrophe film heading in the right direction even when the prepare of the title threatens to fly off the rails.
Minj (“The Legacy of Cloud Falls”) and Jujubee (“AJ and the Queen”) play Tess and DeeDee, stewardesses for Stank Rail, a prepare firm that has simply gone out of enterprise. After ten years of working alongside each other, the 2 marvel if their dream of seeing America (and “the four gay guys on the side of that mountain”) will ever be fulfilled. Alternative strikes when two of their counterparts on the opulent Glamazonian Specific fail to show up for his or her shift and Tess and DeeDee unexpectedly fabricate uniforms to hitch the ranks of its workers, maintained by the disapproving Amber (Brooke Lynn Hytes) and her snobby lieutenants Ali (Marty Lauter) and Ayshleiygh (Symone).
Tucking in for departure, DeeDee strikes up a flirtation with Cal (Brian Jordan Alvarez), Glamazonian’s hunky co-conductor, whereas Tess oversees the prepare’s A-list clientele. However shortly after lead conductor Davenport (Chris Parnell) discovers that the Specific’ brakes are defective, site visitors controller Donna Nightfall (Rachel Bloom) discovers a “stormaganza” that’s set to interrupt immediately of their path. Despite the fact that Donna’s pleas are ignored by her superior (Man Branum), information protection of the upcoming catastrophe prompts President Judy Gagwell (Charles) to get entangled in a rescue effort, although the Head of State is paralyzed by PTSD from a long-buried incident that occurred when she was a part of the U.S. Rail Drive.
With no different assist accessible, DeeDee and Tess are compelled to step in to try to cease the prepare earlier than its passengers are killed. However even when the duo can win the respect of Cal, Amber and their fellow stewardesses to allow them to take cost, every is compelled to confront the insecurities that haven’t solely held them again from larger success, however challenged their longtime friendship.
Working from a script by Christina Friel and Connor Wright, “Stop! That! Train!” assembles a pastiche of coming-of-age and catastrophe film cliches — one elaborate sufficient that nobody ought to accuse the movie of an oz. of originality, however so brisk and self-aware that there’s by no means time to thoughts. Tess and DeeDee are each button-cute characters, and Minj’s cornpone enthusiasm balances sweetly with Jujubee’s naïvete. Introducing characters like Cal as “the cover model for Conductors Whose Dick We Want To See magazine” (full with a cutaway to the most recent concern), the script laces their healthful ambitions — Tess’ profession, DeeDee’s romance — much less with drag queen snark than winking entendre. It’s a successful mixture that retains audiences chasing the characters’ alternate meanings and scalpel-precise references; after Gagwell will get blamed for the upcoming catastrophe, her approval rankings dip to “Lea Michele in 2020” ranges.
A lot mileage is gained out of utilizing boilerplate thriller dialogue like “give it to me straight” and “can you read me” inside an LGBTQ+ context (within the latter case, repeatedly dressing Donna down for her frumpy look), and it really works exactly as a result of it’s on the sting of groan-inducing obviousness. The wordplay between Tess and DeeDee received’t dislodge any screwball-comedy legends from their place within the Hollywood firmament, however the jokes fly so quick and livid from the ensemble — from the principals to single-scene visitor stars — that it appears like one thing for everybody is injected into every scene. Sarah Michelle Gellar’s working gag because the superstar everybody’s too self-absorbed to acknowledge, for instance, exemplifies the movie’s willingness to carry nothing sacred, with the actors invited to comply with go well with.
As a lot as phrases like “stormaganza” elicit comparisons to the cinematic period of “Birdemic” and “Sharknado,” the solid of dozens extra immediately evokes the Irwin Allen catastrophe films of the Seventies, and every supporting performer delivers their traces with actual gusto — even when, as with Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Natasha Leggero, their function actually calls for they cellphone it in. Shankman, regardless of his multi-hyphenate pedigree behind the digicam, has at all times maintained a workmanlike proficiency, and right here he places on a present, even when he’s not fairly the manufacturing’s correct ringleader. That may be RuPaul, whose onscreen disposition embodies Judy Gagwell’s marketing campaign slogan (“She fun!”), and who units the tone for the manufacturing by vacillating between scene-stealing swagger and comically overwrought melodrama.
Greater than their civilian counterparts, viewers conversant in “Drag Race,” its superstars and its lore will doubtless get a lot out of watching the solid commerce on or tweak the personae for which they’re identified on stage. However however its queer-friendly lexicon (a lot of which has infiltrated social media anyway), Shankman’s movie is an simply accessible, unexpectedly ingratiating expertise. Giving the type of burlesque realness {that a} spoof like “Scary Movie” might solely aspire to, “Stop! That! Train!” strikes a skillful stability between serving its designated viewers and welcoming a much wider one alongside for the trip.
