Mangus!

Mangus!
Mangus!
Directed by	Ash Christian
Written by	Ash Christian
Produced by	Ash Christian; Heather Matarazzo; Simon Millar
Starring	Ryan Nelson Boggus; Jennifer Coolidge; Heather Matarazzo; Leslie Jordan; and John Waters
Cinematography	Lyn Moncrief
Edited by	Scott D. Martin
Music by	John Dufilho; Musical:; Scott Murphy; Caroline Murphy
Production; companies	Cranium Entertainment; Filmgate
Distributed by	Wolfe Video
Release dates	June 25, 2011 (Frameline); December 6, 2011 (DVD);
Running time	88 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Mangus! is a 2011 comedy film written, produced, and directed by Ash Christian. The film stars Ryan Nelson Boggus, Jennifer Coolidge, Heather Matarazzo (who also acts as producer), Leslie Jordan, and John Waters.

Plot

Mangus Spedgewick is a typical high schooler living with his war veteran father, Mangus Sr., and neglectful stepmother, Raquel (Deborah Theaker), in a little town called River City, in Texas. It is a family tradition for the young male Spedgewicks to portray Jesus in the town production of Jesus Christ Spectacular, and Mangus is very excited about the upcoming auditions. Mangus auditions with other boys, including a talented and flamboyant classmate, Farrell Williamson, who is the mayor's son. Mangus lands the role, but that night, when he goes out in a limo with his friends, Timmy and Kimmy, there is a terrible car accident. Timmy and Kimmy are cut in half and Mangus loses the use of his legs.

Farrell's mother gathers signatures to get Mangus out of the play so that the role be offered to Farrell. The School District rules that Mangus cannot play Jesus. Play director Bruce (Leslie Jordan) is distraught by the decision, but still must give Mangus the bad news. When Mangus Sr. returns to the war, Raquel sends Mangus to live with his mother, a psychic named Cookie (Jennifer Coolidge), and his half-sister, Jessica Simpson, who live in a trailer with Cookie's boyfriend, Buddy.

Mangus spends his time with his half-sister Jessica Simpson and with his mother's boyfriend Buddy, who is almost as young as Mangus. Jessica Simpson reveals to Mangus that she is a lesbian and meets Bobbie, a black woman who sells ice-cream from a truck. While children wait to buy ice-cream, Jessica and Bobbie have sex in the truck.

Buddy takes Mangus to a strip club where, while getting a lap dance, Mangus hallucinates and meets Jesus Christ (John Waters), who encourages him to fight for the role.

Mangus vows to re-obtain the role, even if it means taking out the competition, a flamboyant classmate, Farrell Williamson, who, while showing Mangus his routine, falls through the coffee table and is injured (his fate is not revealed until towards the end of the film).

Mangus's father is injured in the war and returns home in a wheelchair. He decides to remarry Cookie.

Mangus believes Farrell is dead. He decides to leave town and go to Hollywood to pursue his dream of becoming a singer and disabled dancer. He takes with him his half-sister Jessica Simpson. But accidentally they end up in Hollywood, Florida. There Mangus receives a telegram offering him the part of Jesus again, despite his disability. Although Mangus and Jessica are out of money, they find a Greyhound employee who takes pity on them and they manage to return home.

When Mangus returns to school, Bruce tells him that since they didn't know he was coming back, they had offered the part to Harry. But Harry wants out of the role, and when Mangus asks him for the part, Harry gladly returns it to Mangus.

During the show, Raquel and Buddy finally manage to hook up, but they accidentally stumble into the stage and Buddy is caught with Raquel with his pants down.

For no apparent reason, the musical's opening number is sung by Santa. The rest of the cast is dressed mostly like hippies from Jesus Christ Superstar. Near the end of musical, Mangus is attached to the cross in his wheelchair.

After the play, Mangus's parents reconciled and the whole family go for ice cream.

Cast

Ryan Nelson Boggus as Mangus Spedgewick
Jennifer Coolidge as Cookie Richardson
Heather Matarazzo as Jessica Simpson
Leslie Jordan as Bruce Jackson
John Waters as Jesus Christ
Charles Solomon Jr. as Mangus Spedgewick Sr.
Deborah Theaker as Raquel Spedgewick
Peter S. Williams as Buddy Richardson
John D. Montoya as Farrell Williamson
Leticia Magana as Patricia Williamson
Brittni Horton as Bobbi Jackson
Zander Scott as Timmy Jones
Laura Spencer as Kimmy Jones
Lynn Ambrose as Flossy
Rex Cumming as Randy Jenkins
Rodney Shed as Harry

References

External links

Mangus! at IMDb
Mangus! at Rotten Tomatoes