Dummy 8/10 - A Deckard Review

[Deckard]

DUMMY is realesed on DVD & Video for rental in Oz this month (August) and I was lucky enough to get my hands on a copy. (Think it comes out in September in the US)


I went into DUMMY with thoughts of a black comedy littered with satire and sorrow. Instead I got an amusing, poetic and gentle story that leaves you feeling good all over.Overall the film reminded me of John Water's PECKER. (Which IMO is a good thing).


The film is not without wit and quirk with a dark edge. Thanks to a tight script that fully realizes charecters and allows us to laugh at the unique subtleties in all of them.


The cinematography is controlled and often merly observing. Then letting us know it's there at key intervals with a bold move of gradual dolly. The soundtrack is a mix of genres with all of them assisting the narrative or evoking a mood for a scene.


Well rounded and Individual performances by all involved. Adrien Brody (Stephen) is superb as the maladjusted, socially inept and gentle soul that we empathise with. With help from a domineering "Dummy" and a deliciously eccentric Milla Jovovich, Stephen finds himself and hopefully scores the woman of his dreams. His family are all riddled with quirks and dont see what we the audience knows. It's as if we are the only ones who care what happens to him.

So any of you fans of off centre comedies that are intelligent, insightful and entertaining check this one out..

[FeverDog420]

Kickass!

Got passes in the mail today for a screening on 9/4. Can finally quench my Brody thirst while at the same time groove to Illeana Douglas' kooky sexiness. And how can a movie with PCU's President Garcia-Thompson, the Russian cabbie from Happiness, and Hohobitch be all that bad?

Cool. Adrien Brody. Free movie. Can't wait.

[FeverDog420]

I don't know where Deckard got the Pecker connection, but Brody's character reminded me more of John Cusack's in Being John Malkovich.

http://i.imdb.com/Photos/Ss/0246592/Dummy.jpg

Dummy is nothing more or less than a genial portrait of a sad-sack loser and his overbearing family. Good thing the characters are individual enough to invest interest in. I really liked everybody in this movie, and wanted to know more about them. Unfortunately, not all of them were developed to my satisfaction. For example, I would have liked to know more about Milla's foul-mouthed rock star wannabe Fangora, and Lorena, the single-mother love interest. Who are they? How did they get to where they are? Sketchy background details in the script didn't fill out these characters enough.

But what am I saying? Dummy is impossible to hate, and has got a lot to recommend in it. For instance, I love when movies show an artist honing his craft. I'm tired of seeing the usual cop/doctor/lawyer/superhero slate of Hollywood protagonists, and, like Cusack in BJM, I was watching Brody's interpretation of a struggling artist intently. Brody, yet again, does not disappoint. I've been following his career since Summer of Sam (like y'all didn't already know that), and he here validates his Oscar win for the movie he made right after this. Watching his novice ventriloquist interact with himself through his never-named dummy was fascinating, and a lesson in acting.

There are also many funny moments in Dummy. I can't repeat them since they grow out of the characters' personalities and specific situations they find themselves in. This isn't a collection of one-liners that beget fanboy quotes, but the movie is humorous from beginning to end.

Another thing about Milla. I'm predisposed to like her in any movie (I cannot dislike any actor from Dazed and Confused - no, not even Fleck), but I had to work at liking her here. Maybe it's due to her aforementioned underdeveloped role, but her Fanny "Fangora" was rather abrasive. Is it Milla's fault, or the script's? I'm leaning toward the latter.

Illeana Douglas, as Brody's wedding-planner sister, was, as always, a delight. Why isn't she a huge star? She's been around for years, going all the way back to her minor role in Goodfellas (she first caught my eye in Alive). Her lovely, large doe eyes, to-die-for cheekbones, and effortless ability to command the screen make me wonder if she's content to be merely a working actress. I could look at that gorgeous face all day. She steals so many scenes in Dummy that there should be a warrant out for her arrest. Simply fabulous.

I did, however, strongely dislike the music. Think uninspired rehashes of never-recorded Gin Blossoms knockoffs, and you'll get an idea of the bland guitar-pop used here. This is one soundtrack I will not be buying.

Note: The producer and writer/director of Dummy introduced the film beforehand and held a Q&A session after. The usual questions were asked ("Was Brody a ventriloquist before shooting?" "No..."), but w/d Greg Pritikin did implore the crowd to talk up his movie, since it's apparently opening against 11 other movies in New York. So, I did my part here. Dummy is nothing special, but a pleasant, decent indie movie with a lot of good humor and positive values. What else can I say? What kind of asshole would I be to trash a movie shot, according to Pritikin, in three weeks in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and Wayne, New Jersey? I haven't forgotten my roots. Go Jersey!

7/10

[FeverDog420]

And I just noticed Deckard does the same thing I do: post on IMDb, with minor editing, the same thing posted here.

Look for FeverDog's user comments after (above) Deckard's on the Dummy page there...

[Annie Hall]

I'm looking forward to this movie ever so much. It looks charming, and right up my alley.

I need a Brody fix, folks...when Liberty Heights doesn't do it for me, I know it's time. I sincerely hope this comes out in my area sometime soon...

The man is a theatrical genius who just happens to be tall, dark, handsome and broad-shouldered.