Der Pecker

John Waters does what he does best, creating comedies that hang on

that line between normal and strange. In this time around, Waters directs PECKER, about how the seemingly normal photographs taken by an average small-town kid named Pecker (Eddie Furlong) become over- night successes by different art moguls. Of course, many misadventures abound as Pecker encounters many people with different opinions about his "works of art."

The performances are basically the main highlight of the film. Furlong does a good portrayal of the snapshot-taking teen, while Christina

Ricci also shines as Pecker's alienated girlfriend. Low-key teen actor Brendan Sexton III steals the film as Pecker's best friend Matt, a go-go-dancing klepto, just the right kind of character found in a John Waters' flick!

Well, with the right amount of censors, I'm sure anyone would like this. While diehard John Waters fans will be disappointed (There's no obese transvestites that eat dog feces or hilariously hideous trailer park characters) it was still an uplifting film with good performances and several laugh-out-loud scenes. An uplifting John Waters film? Yes. He's also known for dark humor; but this film relied on harmless shock value.

Edward Furlong plays the title character, a kid who takes pictures of everything he encounters in his sleazy Baltimore neighborhood. A NY art agent (Lili Taylor) observes his work and he finds he has the choice between either rising to fame (which he loses his friends and family) or keeping his original lifestyle as a poor suburban dweller.

Give this one a try: Expect nothing, and you won't be disappointed.

Pecker is another John Waters tribute to the less fashionable side of his native city of Baltimore. Unlike previous films Pecker is set in modern Baltimore of 1998.

And it's centered around a young man named Pecker. Lest you think it describes him anatomically or behaviorally, what it really does describe is his way of eating as a child, sort of pecking at his food. Of course it wouldn't be John Waters without the double entendre.

Pecker as played by Edward Furlong was given a camera as a kid and it's become an obsession with him, to photograph life and find art in it. Art's everywhere, in his girlfriend's laundromat, in the sandwich shop where he works, in his grandmother's obsession with her talking Virgin Mary icon, even in the garbage where two rats are mating.

Soon his pictures attract attention from the art world. But when that happens Pecker's own world starts to crumble around him. How and will he get it back is the story of Pecker.

John Waters surrounds Furlong with a nice cast of supporting players with the usual Dickensian names for their characters. Best are Christina Ricci as Pecker's girl friend, Baltimore's laundromat Queen, and Brendan Sexton as his best friend and professional kleptomaniac.

Pecker is another of John Waters's lighthearted look at life and some of the strange things we find in it. I think only the most hidebound of rightwing people will not find something amusing in Pecker.

In true John Waters form, "Pecker" offers a pure glimpse of human nature. Being human entitles us to our own unique quirks and eccentricities that make us individuals. When we 'seemingly' normal people are influenced by our ever-changing society, that is when the humor begins.

I think the true beauty of this movie is in the acting. Waters guides his cast into committed characterizations, adding layer upon layer of sub-text until they blossom before your eyes. Waters approaches his characters the way a painter approaches his easel and taking a mental snapshot, paints his perspective. Add all these factors in and you see why I say Pecker is a great movie!

Bravo, John. I always enjoy your work, thank you for sharing your art and perspective with the world.

I thought this was an utterly charming film. The story seems to be a thinly veiled autobiography of John Waters: Pecker's greatest gift is his ability to find beauty in unexpected places. Edward Furlong does well in the lead, but the best performances are by his grandmother, Mink Stole (a hilarious cameo) and, of all people, Patty Hearst. I think the reviewers are way off base on this one. They seem to be taking Pecker's worst valuation of his work as gospel, when I think the film pretty clearly states that he is indeed a promising artist.