"Cool Runnings" meets "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert."

It's hard to imagine a film much more whacked out than "The Iron Ladies." Get this: It is a gay, Thai, championship volleyball team biopic! That's right, this film is about a team of gay and transgender and transvestite volleyball players in Taiwan who enter some sort of national sports competition and make it all the way to the finals. Better yet: It's based on a true story. Amazing.

There is a plethora of interesting characters in the film but none more wild and fun than Jung. So cute, girlish and sassy, it is almost impossible to believe this is a young man playing the part. Except, of course, only a drag queen could be this fierce! Jung, as played by the scrumptious Chaicharn Nimpulsawasdi, dresses like a female Anime character and is funny and feisty. My favorite moment with Jung, however, is when he is dressed like a regular boy. He is so cute and boyish here you almost cannot believe it is that same character. Like Hilary Swank as Brandon Teena in "Boys Don't Cry," Minpulsawasdi won my heart and, girl or boy, it didn't matter. He/she was all mine!

Of all of the characters, many of whom wear make-up and girl's clothing, none is more girlish than Jung (with the exception of Pia, who has had some surgery). Mon, for example, is a large young man who wears his hair long, wears a bit of lipstick and dresses slightly effeminatly. Mon, like a few others on the team, is not a transvestite in the literal (or perhaps literal Western sense) of the word. To me he was just an effeminate gay guy. And quite fetching. Other guys on the team are simply gay or straight - and we only know this, through exposition. A couple of them are seemingly just regular guys. And then there is Coach Bee, a wonderful and charming lesbian who brings the ragtag group together. The character of the coach is wonderful because the actress in the role, Shiriohana Hongsopon, is neither particularly butch nor particularly effeminate. We just see her as a coach and her sexuality, which is barely discussed, is really irrelevant. This character could be male, female or whatever. All that is really important is that she understands and fights for her team.

With wonderful characters and story and an underdog to root for, the film charms us immensely. It's extremely rewarding to see this group of diverse individuals come together to triumph. For American's taste, the plot points of rude and homophobic athletes and sportsmen calling the team "fags" and undermining their competitions may be stereotypical and overdone, but we must remember we are dealing with a different culture here. I'll be the first to admit I know nothing of the Taiwanese cultural climate regarding alternative lifestyles, although the film here does give us inadvertent clues, but if this film were American, some of the characters might be seen as one-dimensional haters. Regardless, as much a lesson in a unique underground culture from an Asian country as a film, "The Iron Ladies" is eye opening.

My only problem with the film was the lack of volleyball scenes in the proceedings. For a "sports" film, there is not enough of the sport being played on screen. Volleyball is secondary to character development and gay fun (an extended drag show scene is dull as mud). I would have preferred a lot more scenes of the team practicing and learning to work together on the court. The scenes that do appear are poorly executed and seem to be desperately trying to hide the actors' inability to play the sport well.

But the poorly rendered sports scenes are almost a moot point in "The Iron Ladies." This film is about fun and about acceptance. The Iron Ladies team becomes national cult heroes. And they do so by staying true to themselves and sticking together. These themes and the plot might be rather standard and tired in an American film, but in this awe- inspiring film from Thailand, they are charming and giddy and exhilarating.

Notes:

In Thai with subtitles.

Scenes of the "real" Iron Ladies on TV interview programs (sans sound) are shown during the end credits.

A Thai version of The Bay City Rollers' "Saturday Night" can be heard on the soundtrack.

Report Card Script: A- Acting: A- Cinematography\Lighting: C+ Special Effects\Make Up:C+ Music: C+ Final Grade: A-

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