To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar

To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995) is an American comedy-drama you can watch online on iFILM. Three New York drag queens win seats at a national pageant in Los Angeles and decide to drive there, coast to coast, in a battered convertible.

Seasoned pros Vida Boheme and Noxeema Jackson bring along Chi-Chi Rodriguez, a hot-tempered rookie who bombed at the qualifier the night before. Patrick Swayze plays Vida, Wesley Snipes plays Noxeema, and John Leguizamo plays Chi-Chi, a casting choice that still raises eyebrows decades later and somehow works. Partway across the country the car dies, stranding the trio in a sleepy nowhere town. The locals flinch at first, then slowly warm up, especially the women who haven't been told they're beautiful in a long while.

Beeban Kidron directed, RuPaul and Julie Newmar herself turn up in cameos, with Newmar's name right there in the title. It's a warm, deliberately bright comedy about acceptance, no sharp edges and plenty of heart. Good for anyone who loves a 1990s road movie and actors cast wildly against type. Stream To Wong Foo (1995) online on iFILM.