October 23, 1995 -- ``To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar,'' is one of the strangest names for a movie I've ever heard, and the movie is pretty strange too. It's also enjoyable, in a strange way.

The story is similar to ``Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.'' Like ``Priscilla,'' ``Wong Foo'' is essentially a road movie starring drag queens. Three drag queens, ``Noxeema'' (Wesley Snipes), ``Vida'' (Patrick Swayze) and ``Chi Chi'' (John Leguizamo) hit the road for Hollywood from New York in a big Cadillac and have adventures along the way.

The trio gets sidetracked in a tiny Midwest town where they become the center of attention. Using their infallible sense of style and fashion, they set about righting various wrongs and generally improving the town. They do makeovers on the women and whip the dirty, abusive men into shape. By the time they leave, everything is wonderful.

Obviously, that story line is a lot to swallow, but it works well enough as an outrageous fantasy. The story also avoids the whole issue of gay sex. If you can't stomach the idea of drag queens as societal role models you probably won't like this film, however.

Stockard Channing is especially good as an abused housewife named Carol Ann, who is rescued by Vida. Vida beats up her abusive husband, Virgil (Arlisss Howard) and throws him out of the house. The friendship between Vida and Carol Ann is quite touching.

The messages of the film seem to be, 1 - follow your dreams, 2 - a strong sense of style and fashion will serve you well and 3 - be true to yourself. The idea of homosexuals being non-threatening and better adjusted than most heterosexuals is not unusual in Hollywood films, but seldom has it been carried to such absurd lengths.

In the foreign film ``Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,'' for instance, had a much harder edge to it. The characters struggled to come to terms with themselves and to overcome obstacles. By comparison, ``Wong Foo'' skirts or avoids all such issues. What it lacks in insight it makes up for with its carefree, upbeat theme.

It is a credit to the actors in the film and to screenwriter Douglas Carter Beane's funny dialogue that this movie is so entertaining. It rates a B.

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