Bam Bam and Celeste (2005)

Celeste (Margaret Cho) and Bam Bam (Bruce Daniels) escape their Midwest hometown for New York, and take on their high-school nemeses - the dictators of the world-famous Salon Mirage - while discovering that true beauty lies within.

Director:

Lorene Machado

Writer:

Margaret Cho

Stars:

Margaret Cho, Bruce Daniels, Alan Cumming

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Margaret Cho	...	Celeste / Mommy
Bruce Daniels	...	Bam Bam
Alan Cumming	...	Eugene
Elaine Hendrix	...	Jackie
Jane Lynch	...	Darlene
John Cho	...	Stephan
Butch Klein	...	Ryan
Katy Selverstone	...	Alegra
Danny Hoch	...	Neo Nazi
Wilson Cruz	...	Tony
Kathy Najimy	...	Legba
Sabrina Matthews	...	Suburban Dyke
Kali Rocha	...	Angela
Jackie Kashian	...	Eileen
Nisha Ganatra	...	Linda

Storyline

Celeste and Bam Bam escape their Midwest hometown on an epic road trip to New York City. There they take on their high-school nemeses - now the dictators of the world-famous Salon Mirage - and discover that true beauty lies within.

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Plot Keywords:

salon | road trip | new york city | homosexual | gay | 

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Taglines:

The shortest distance between two points isn't always a straight line.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2005 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Salty Features, Nuit Blanche Productions, Cho Taussig Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min 85 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The story is loosely based on Cho's experience growing up in San Francisco in the 1980s.

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Connections

References Forrest Gump (1994)

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Soundtracks

"I'm Beautiful"
Written by Elaine Hendrix (ASCAP) and Barry Coffing (BMI)
Performed by Elaine Hendrix

User Reviews

I Love Margaret Cho, but...

I just saw this movie at the Toronto International Film Festival and Margaret Cho was there greeting fans at the entrance. She took questions, she took pictures, she was infinitely sweet and patient and I wanted nothing more than to love this movie; a fag and fag-hag road trip comedy, what could be better? Unfortunately I found the comedy was often of the "Psychics with ESPN" variety or that the timing was just off and I felt a bit disappointed that Maragret and also very funny Bruce did not imbue Bam Bam & Celeste with more character and personality since both in real life are such engaging and fun comedians I know it's a comedy and I wasn't expecting in-depth character development but they often came across a bit flat. I did however LOVE the supporting cast and the cameos alone make it worth watching. Plus Elaine Hendrix as the villainous high school tormentor turned beauty salon bitch was a brilliant casting choice. And Margaret playing her mother is reason enough to give the movie a shot.

It's really colourful, really honest and clearly straight from Maragret's heart--I just wish more of the personality she shows in her stand-up would have translated into the script.