Dummy

I had a premonition I was about to see a comedy with a lot of heart even before the main titles played out at a screening of "Dummy" at the American Film Market 2000 recently.

In the opening scene, Steven, who lives with his eccentric parents and sister, sits enthralled watching the flickering tv image of ventriloquist Edgar Bergan and his dummy, Charlie McCarthy. As the camera moves in on the young man, we see in his eyes the depth of his dreams and aspirations to at last make something of his humdrum life. The next day, he gives up his 9-to-5 job and announces to his dysfunctional family that he wants to be a ventriloquist. His ever-busy mother(Jessica Walter), making yet another tuna sandwich, remarks that his career choice is" nice but not very realistic" while his sister observes that with the dummy on his lap, Steven looks like a child molester.

Casting is right on the mark. Adrien Brody brings a sympathetic and likable quality to the role of Steven as he manipulates his dummy to express his own private fears and feelings to the people around him. Vera Farmiga, the love interest, is extremely engaging as his employment counselor and Illeana Douglas, the very unmarried sister, is constantly funny. Outstanding too is Milla Javovich as Steven's best friend, a punk rocker with layers of attitude. Writer and director Greg Pritikin skillfully holds down the pathos and gives his film just the right touch of humor. An entertaining movie that is worth a look.

"Dummy" is an impressive movie for many reasons, but let's start with the show stealer... Milla Jovovich. Her character is something like a female Beavis & Butthead rolled into one but with great character development and evolution which pays off with her riveting singing performance at the story's climax. Her scenes alone (which some appreciative youtubers have strung together for our enjoyment) are worth the price of admission.

Not to be overshadowed is Adrian Brody who plays a nerdy ventriloquist (whose only friend is Milla). And in case you're wondering, yes, he operated the puppet and did all the ventriloquism himself according to the credits at the end.

The story: a nerdy ventriloquist wannabe (Brody), who is living at home at age 30-something because he can't keep a real job, pairs up with his high school pal (Jovovich) to chase his dreams and simultaneously win the love of a girl he's stalking. The humor is that the two of them, Brody & Jovovich, play characters who are so socially stunted that they'd be lucky if they could ride a bus downtown, let alone achieve their dreams of glory. By the way, Milla's dream is to be a punk rocker, but she keeps getting waylaid by the fact that her guitarist can never seem to get the right "reeear-weew-breeer-woow" (that's a quote). Until they switch to a bizarre new music genre which I won't spoil, you just gotta check it out and you WON'T be disappointed.

There's a simultaneous subplot involving our hero's sister (played by the hilarious Illeana Douglas) who is a failed-singer-turned-wedding-planner also living at home at age 30-something whist being stalked by an alcoholic accountant who does community theater in his spare time.

Perhaps you've figured it out from my description; this is a film about people who have failed in various degrees to achieve their dreams, and now solidly rooted in mediocrity, they make their way through life on the line of sanity. And frequently tripping over said line.

"Dummy" is a true gem of quirky excellence. The comedic timing between Brody's subdued character and Jovovich's hyper manic character is impeccable. Not to mention other supporting characters like the mother, father and of course Brody's love interest who each play memorable roles that contribute greatly to the humor. "Dummy" is an all round solid comedy that deserves a respectable cult following. Definitely not a wooden performance. Har har.

Adrien Brody is quietly wonderful as an unemployed nebbish in his late twenties who stills lives with his parents and has a fascination with ventriloquism; he finally buys a dummy of his own and practices the craft he's dreamed about, yet also realizes (via his new wooden companion) that it may be time to start growing up. Greg Pritikin wrote and directed this low-budget satire of suburban craziness, and seems to harbor an affection for bughouse characters all living on the edge. It isn't an original vision (Hal Hartley was mining this dryly eccentric territory 10 years ago), but it's still surprising how successfully Pritikin manages to pull this intentionally bumpy story together. Milla Jovovich is initially off-putting playing Brody's friend, a foul-mouthed garage rocker, but when she gets her band a job playing klesmer songs at a wedding--and immerses herself in the Jewish language--she reveals an appealing, sassy side that totally fits into Pritikin's offbeat universe. Illeana Douglas and Vera Farmiga are also very fine, and though the construction of the script is caricature-oriented, most of these actors overcome the slight material, revealing something unexpected in the process: a sunny story about weirdos that ultimately celebrates humanity. **1/2 from ****

This movie is terrific. It's very funny and very powerful. Everything that happens is a necessary plot point to tell the story. Nothing is extraneous. Each character is uniquely entertaining and real, they each remind us of someone we know. We root for Stephen, we dislike Heidi, and we can't help but love Fanny. The characters are developed wonderfully. The performances are all terrific. I've never seen any of Adrien Brody's work before, but if it's all as great as this then he's destined for super stardom. Illeana Douglas is hilarious and perfect as usual. I was most blown away by Milla Jovovich. She's amazingly fun to watch on screen and her New Jersey accent is dead-on. Great dialog and flawless directing. Simply put it's a wonderful film with a unique theme, which is unique in itself.

Dummy (2002)

A fun, offbeat, somewhat frivolous charcoal gray comedy. It's hilarious in spots and touching in spots, and has some terrific acting. The overall scenario is a situation comedy, drawn out over the hour and a half, and it might have made a tighter hour long television show. At times it seems to really hit an eccentric tone that's terrific and even a little surreal, as with some of the family interactions, played with beautiful deadpan steadiness. And when it's a moving romantic comedy, you appreciate the restrained, sympathetic acting of several of the leads. There isn't a bad performance in the lot of them.