Teresa's Tattoo Movie Review
Teresa's Tattoo is a zany 1994 comedy directed by Julie Cypher and starring Adrienne Shelly in a dual role. First, she's Gloria whose earrings are encoded with NASA secrets and who doesn't know she's been abducted by two bozos. They eat Cheerios while she accidentally drowns in a pool. To cover up their mistake, they abduct look-alike Teresa who “voluntarily went to a party of lesbian prostitutes where three men drugged her. She woke up with a new hairdo and a tattoo, was fed greasy freezer treats and drugged (again) after which she was driven to a dark, scary place where additional bad men chased her and threatened to cut off her fingers before wrecking their own car!” Teresa's police statement is read in a hilarious deadpan by Diedrich Bader, whose only other big-screen credit was as Jethro and Jethrine in 1993's The Beverly Hillbillies. He's very funny here, and so is Shelly, who appears to be gorgeously vague but whose comedy is rooted in a very precise and specific style. Others contributing to the fun are Majel Barrett and Nanette Fabray as a pair of ditzy friends; Anthony Clark, C. Thomas Howell, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Casey Siemaszko as the bad men; Tippi Hedren as Evelyn, Teresa's newlywed mother; k.d. lang as a religious nut; Nancy McKeon as Sara Pond, Teresa's best friend; Mary Kay Place as Nora, a straight-talking new inlaw; Joe Pantoliano as Bruno; Jonathan Silverman as Rich, Teresa's would-be date who forgot to show up; Kiefer Sutherland as a cop; and Mare Winningham in a bit as a singer. This serious side-splitting remedy for the blues was written by Georgie Huntington, and five of the songs are written by Melissa Etheridge, who has a cameo as a hooker. Teresa's Tattoo’s reputation is zero, but it made me laugh for 88 minutes. When you absolutely NEED a laugh, this silly flick with a great cast may offer a welcome respite from grim reality.
1994 88m/C Adrienne Shelly, C. Thomas Howell, Nancy McKeon, Lou Diamond Phillips, Casey Siemaszko, Jonathan Silverman, Diedrich Bader; Cameos: Majel Barrett, Anthony Clark, Nanette Fabray, Tippi Hedren, k.d. lang, Joe Pantoliano, Mary Kay Place, Mare Winningham, Kiefer Sutherland, Melissa Etheridge; D: Julie Cypher; W: Georgie Huntington; C: Sven Kirsten; M: Melissa Etheridge. VHS