Dummy

Rating:
Summary: Delightful find, barring the DVD errors
Review: I had been meaning to see this for quite some time, as I missed it in the 3 theaters it played in. I'm glad to report that the movie is every bit as charming as I had hoped!

I regret to concur with the other reviews that state this DVD is incorrectly labelled as a widescreen release. The copy I rented from Blockbuster said "widescreen" on the disc, but was in fact full-screen, with the sides of the frame choppped off.

If I can find a widescreen copy, I will definitely buy this.

Rating:
Summary: Don't be a Dummy...this is very funny!
Review: I saw this film at the Independent Film Festival in Boston.
I was so psyched because the director Greg Pritikin and Illeana Douglas were there...
but when the film ended, my sides were hurting and I was smiling.
It's so nice when a fresh film like Dummy can come out of nowhere and totally steal your heart.
Brody is really good as Steven, the offbeat quiet loner,
whos best friend Fangora, played with spunk and inspired hilarity by Milla Jovovich.
They're not in college...they don't have jobs.
So Steven decides to persue the act of being a Ventriloquist.
And upon getting work, he falls for his Unemployment counselour, played by Vira Farmiga.
Fangora wants Steven to get with her, so she schemes to woo her for him.

Milla Jovovich steals the entire show.
She is never offstep with her delivery and antics.

Steven's family is especially disfunctional....
his father is recently retired and sits around making model boats, while his mother...cooks.

His sister played by Illeana Douglas has a stalker ex-boyfriend, which doesn't help because she's a wedding planner under lots of pressure.
---
Even if you don't like this film (which I doubt you will), you cannot deny the extremely well played performance by Jovovich.

Rating:
Summary: NOT WIDESCREEN!!!
Review: I very much enjoyed the film and especially the addtional extras like the Jeff Dunham stuff...that was worth it alone. However, this is not a widescreen format and I feel a little taken advantage of. It is full screen with the left and right parts of the film cut off, not even adjusted for full screen. Not sure what happened in the production of the DVD but someone messed up BIG TIME. It's too bad...because it is a good film. If it ever is corrected, let me know. Buyer beware!

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous!
Review: I went into this movie without really caring to see it, mainly because, like clowns, wooden dummies creep me out. I am glad I overlooked my general revulsion for this film.

Adrien Brody plays a nearly thirty loser who lives with his highly dysfunctional parents, silent but knowing grandmother, and his sister who is played by Ileana Douglas. His only friend is an over the top punk rocker, played by Milla Jovovich. He decides to follow his dreams of becoming a ventriloquist, and in the process, falls for his counselor at the unemployment office.

Other side plots include the stalker boyfriend that is after our protagonist's sister, a wedding planner who gave up her dreams of becoming a singer, and the Jewish wedding that she is trying to pull together.

As Fangora, Jovovich is outstanding. This is the type of performance that deserves the Oscar nod. She shines above all the rest and pretty much steals the show, though in saying that I must say too, that everyone in this film did a great job.

This is a funny, touching film, and the added bonus is a pretty rippin' soundtrack.


Rating:
Summary: Good Movie..Messed Up DVD
Review: If you're buying this in hopes of enjoying widescreen on your HDTV...don't. Someone messed up and it is presented in full screen with the case labeled incorrectly. I think they even forgot the pan and scan. I hope they correct this and re-release it as it is a good comedy and sure deserves better.

Rating:
Summary: "Just trust me on this one."
Review: Introverted Steven (Adrien Brody) is still living at home surrounded by his really peculiar family. His sour sister, Heidi (Illeana Douglas) is a wedding planner who's recently split from her alcoholic, accountant fiance. Heidi and Steven's mother, Fern (Jessica Walter) is in an entirely different mental zone. It's quite possible she's a Stepford wife. All she seems to do is smilingly produce platefuls of food--including her favourite dish, blintzes. Steven's father, Lou (Ron Liebman) is obsessed with his scale-models of famous battleships.

Steven buys a ventriloquist's dummy and brings it home, but there's no privacy, so soon everyone in the household knows about Steven's "weird" new hobby. When Steven is fired, he trots off to the unemployment office, registers as an entertainer, and is promptly smitten by his unemployment councilor, Lorena (Vera Farmiga). Steven is encouraged in the romance by his life-long maladjusted friend, Fangora (Milla Jovovich).

"Dummy" is extremely funny in spots. One hilarious scene takes place at the dinner table, and Steven's dysfunctional family members are in full swing as they verbally push all the buttons intended to annoy, embarrass and humiliate one another. Adrien Brody is extremely impressive as Steven. The last film I saw Brody in was "The Pianist", and I wasn't entirely sure he could pull this role off, but his depiction of the introverted, peculiar Steven was excellent. He fits the stereotypical idea of the repressed ventriloquist who expresses his thoughts through the dummy who becomes his alter ego.

One of the film's weakest points is the character of Fangora. She's a rock musician who switches to Klezmer for a wedding gig. Her foul-mouthed exuberant, risk-taking personality pushes Steven into taking chances, and while the character is necessary to the development of the story, the character has a jarring, synthetic effect, and I couldn't completely buy the romance between Steve and Lorena--displacedhuman

Rating:
Summary: an unanticipated delight
Review: Is there anything in this world creepier than a ventriloquist's dummy? Rod Serling apparently didn't think so when he turned one into a raving psychopath in a memorable episode of "The Twilight Zone." In "Dummy," the delightfully quirky comedy by writer/director Greg Pritikin, the dummy turns out to be just about the least creepy character in the film - and I mean that in the nicest way possible.

Adrien Brody, in a film made prior to (but released after) his Oscar-winning triumph in "The Pianist," stars as Steven Schoichet, a mild-mannered, socially backward man in his late 20's who still lives at home with his parents and his equally dysfunctional sister. One day, Steven decides to purchase a ventriloquist's dummy, a move that finally gives him the courage to break out of his shell and pursue the woman of his dreams.

Pritikin has come up with an extraordinary ensemble cast that includes, in addition to Brody, Illeana Douglas, as Steven's lovelorn, perpetually frustrated sister; Milla Jovovich, as Steven's foulmouthed wannabe punk rock star friend and companion; Jessica Walter as Steven's off-the-wall mother who figures she can keep her son happy if she perpetually feeds him sandwiches; and Ron Leibman as Steven's father who just wants to spend his time putting together model ships and who can't understand how he's ended up with two children so obviously devoid of purpose and direction in life. Vera Farmiga is charming and winning as the unemployment counselor - perhaps the one "uncertifiable" character in the film - who opens her heart to both Steven and his dummy companion.

Pritikin has taken some very simple material and woven it into a many-splendored tapestry, hitting just the right tone all the way through. The film is wickedly funny one moment and touchingly romantic the next. Yet, Pritikin never violates the uniquely quirky spirit of the premise he's established. It is particularly fun watching Steven engage in long-running conversations with himself, using the dummy as a sounding board for working out his own insecurities and fears.

Beautifully written, directed and acted, "Dummy" is one of the genuine, certified sleepers of the past several years.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: Like American Splendor and Ghost World, this is one of those films that I can really relate to. Adrien Brody is wonderful in his portrayal of the Jewish loner who still lives with his parents and the only way he can easily communicate to the world is through his ventriloquist dummy. Artisan did a wonderful job in their casting. Ron Liebman and Jessica Walter are the perfect real couple to play the parents of Adrien and his sister played to perfection by Illeana Douglas. Vera Farmiga plays Brody's love interest in such a way that you get the sense that she too has led a somewhat disoriented life. Milla Jovovich, wow. This is the first role I've seen her in where she actually speaks a lot and gets to sing. She is remarkable as Brody's best friend Fanny...I'm sorry Fangora! I had my mother watch this film with me and being Jewish, she loved it when Milla sang punk versions of Klezmer songs!

The DVD is packed with wonderful features such as lessons on how to be a good ventriloquist with the help of Jeff Dunham, a cute mock featurette that shows Jeff teaching a class on Ventriloquism, commentary from Jeff and two of his own dummies, a Widescreen presentation of the film, and deleted scenes. There's even a mini DVD game called "What Kind Of Dummy Are You?".

Powered by a lovely acoustic soundtrack and good direction from Greg Pritkin, Dummy is a lovely tale of dreams and ambitions and comedic drama that can tap into the artist in all of us.

Be sure to listen for Fangora's references to Borders!

Rating:
Summary: "Those aren't even pancakes, they're blintzes!"
Review: See it for Brody. See it for Jovovich. See it for Douglas. What a refreshing, odd, sweet, funny little story. Loved it. If you're into quirk, you can't go wrong.

Rating:
Summary: Great cast, witty script and outrageously funny in places.
Review: Sly, whimsical, irreverent and very funny, Dummy is an adorable little movie that not only showcases Adrien Brody's talents as a ventriloquist, but also shows off the acting smarts of Milla Jovovich and Illeana Douglas. All three give absolutely knockout performances in this delightful tale of family dysfunction, adult innocence, and offbeat romance. I've always considered ventriloquism slightly creepy, and the wooden puppets kind of ugly, so I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. The relationship between Brody's Steven and his little wooden friend is more than just a stage act; his dummy is his best friend and confidant, often acting as a type of therapist.

Director, Greg Pritikin has imbued his embattled protagonist with so many endearing and innocent qualities that it's impossible not to like him. Steven Schoichet is pushing thirty, shy, sensitive and still living at home with his controlling, self-absorbed parents Lou and Fern (played by Ron Leibman and Jessica Walter), and his, neurotic, love starved and totally frustrated sister, Heidi (a lawless Illeana Douglas). The family are innocently dysfunctional - Lou builds models of World War 2 battle ships, Fern makes sandwiches all day, Heidi - when not arguing with her parents - is trying to plan weddings for a living, and Stephen tries to ignore them all.

After seeing TV images of ventriloquist Paul Winchell and his wisecracking sidekick, Jerry Mahoney, he acquires a dummy from a magic shop and starts practicing, he also goes to classes and tells Lorena, his attractive unemployment counselor (the beguiling Vera Farmiga) that ventriloquism is his life's vocation. His foul-mouthed and angry best friend, Fangora (Milla Jovovich like you've never seen her), is a tough girl punk rocker whose band is going nowhere. Fangora and Stephen are two social outcasts driven together by mutual need and who are have a somewhat uneasy friendship.

This is a character driven movie where the action unfolds at a quick pace and where the humor is totally kooky and sharp. There are some wonderful moments particularly when Steven invites Lorena home to dinner, and also when Fangora gets a gig playing at a wedding and is forced to discover the joys of Yiddish music. The cast is totally terrific, imbuing the movie with a comedic energy that, for the most part, is flawless. Adrien Brody actually gives us two characters - Steven, and his dummy: his alter ego and his comic foil and he portrays both with a wonderfully soft, spirited, and affectionate quality. Dummy is a smart, fun, offbeat movie and is one of the best comedies I've seen in a while. Mike Leonard January 05.