John Nail wrote on 09/27/2002:

I enjoyed "Cecil B. Demented," in which John Waters pokes fun of himself and Hollywood, but not as much as I hoped I would. There's some choice dialogue and plenty of sight gags that had me laughing out loud. Stephen Dorff seems to relish his roll as the title character, and Melanie Griffith--who usually irritates me--gives one of her more interesting performances. Yet "Cecil" seems less than what it could've been. Worse, I found myself wincing at the cheapness of the movie's look (not to mention some sloppy special effects work at the end). "John Waters' movies are supposed to look cheap," I kept reminding myself. "That's what makes them fun." Except John had to go and make "Hairspray," which, though made for a fraction of what studios throw at Ben Affleck to star in a movie, had considerably higher production values than his previous movies. Waters had to go raise the bar on himself, and now he's not sure where to go. With "Cecil B. Demented" he tries to go home again... but he's only there for a visit.

d.s. (david090350@attbi.com) wrote on 01/28/2001:

Each John Waters film is an individual experience. The early films of the 70's and 80's were fun, but gave the finger to the world in general. The movies of the 90's were more professional looking, but lost "the edge" and "in your face" feeling. This film of the new millenium tries to capture the spirit of what his films should always be. In a way he was making fun of himself, as well as mainstream movies. I enjoyed it and will watch it many more times. It is a part of my John Waters collection.