hedwig and the angry inch ( 2001 ) john cameron mitchell , miriam shor , stephen trask , michael pitt , theodore liscinski , michael aronov , andrea martin , maurice dean wint , ben mayer-goodman . animation by emily hubley . adapted from the stage play by john cameron mitchell and stephen trask . music and lyrics by stephn trask . written and directed by john cameron mitchell . 91 minutes . review by ed johnson-ott , nuvo newsweekly www . nuvo . net archive reviews at <a href= " http : //reviews . imdb . com/reviewsby ? edward + johnson-ott " >http : //reviews . imdb . com/reviewsby ? edward + johnson-ott</a> to receive reviews by e-mail at no charge , send subscription requests to <a href= " mailto : ejohnsonott@prodigy . net " >ejohnsonott@prodigy . net</a> or e-mail <a href= " mailto : ejohnsonott-subscribe@onelist . com " >ejohnsonott-subscribe@onelist . com</a> with the word " subscribe " in the subject line . had " hedwig and the angry inch " came out in the '70s , right after david bowie's " ziggy stardust , " it likely would now be regarded as one of the most popular rock musicals of all time . released in the 500 channel , sensory overload world of 2001 , however , the big screen adaptation of the acclaimed off-broadway musical must do battle with countless other productions clamoring for attention . i almost missed it . every august , the major studios try to squeeze the last few dollars out of summer moviegoers by dumping all of their shakier offerings on the marketplace at once . i was so busy trying to keep up with national releases like " summer catch " and " bubble boy " that i passed over any independent film that looked like it would only have a short local run . but an e-mail from a reader asking why i hadn't reviewed the movie prompted me to make a late evening trip to the theater . 
