text: This little film is hysterical, full of stereotypes about gays, straights, dwarfs, British tea and pubs, American gun culture, divorce and marriage; yet, it manages to be sensitive to the issues surrounding each. Kathy Bates is "Amazing" Grace Beasley, and as a character actor of staggering range, she brings her considerable comedic talent to ground this somewhat unusual film as she did in Fried Green Tomatos. With the help of other comedic talents like Dan Akroid as Max, her ex-lawyer husband and the backdrop of downtown Chicago and rural England, the story is just intriguing enough to entertain. Jonathan Price plays Victor Fox, a closet gay singer murdered by a cross-bow killer in Chicago. His valet-lover Dirk Simpson, played by the stunning Rupert Everett, must overcome Victor's siblings, including Lynn Redgrave, who want to turn their home into a tribute museum, and teams with Bates and her dwarf daughter-in-law, Maudy Beasley, to find the killer among the homeless of Chicago.<br /><br />The entire cast sing at various points in the pursuit, and are excellent, esp. the talented Price and Bates. This implausible storyline, both funny and bizarre, is one of the most off-center films. Cameos by Julie Andrews, Barry Manlow, and Sally Jesse Raphael should tell you just how bizarre this film truly is. Strange, funny, and off-center but with a good perspective about people with every kind of difference.