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DVD Dummy
Oscar®-winner Adrien Brody has a nifty role in Dummy as a shy loser whose life is transformed by... ventriloquism. Living with his parents and his caustic sister (Illeana Douglas in good form), tongue-tied Steven can't hold a conversation to save his life--until he sits a wooden dummy on his knee. Others find this kind of creepy, but Steven parlays his newfound voice into a date with his pretty lady at the unemployment office (she's played by Vera Farmiga, from 15 Minutes, a soulful actress destined for big things). Writer-director Greg Pritikin doesn't oversell this modest premise, instead nicely filling in the corners with sly comedy and character bits. Milla Jovovich plays Steven's punk-rock buddy, and Jessica Walter and Ron Leibman are his parents--it's a surprisingly strong cast for an indie effort. Dummy won a release when Brody got the Oscar for The Pianist, but this is a worthy and entertaining picture all on its own. --Robert Horton
I really have to give kudos to my husband on this one. This is a movie that, on the surface, would've never made my "must see" list. Fortunately, my husband buys movies compulsively. We have a stockpile of films yet to be seen, and he keeps buying more. So, it's Friday night, the family is in the living room with pizza, and he puts Gothika into the player. After the opening credits, the movie begins with a string of F-words and graphic dialogue, and that's when he decides it probably isn't a family-friendly film. So, he walks into the room and puts in Dummy. The kids and I couldn't help assuming the dummy was going to turn into a mass-murderer, knowing my husband's penchant for B-horror flicks. Instead, we saw a heartwarming and sensitive but quirky film. It completely engrossed me, and my boys, ages 13 and 10. The 10 year old is quite a quirky character himself. I'm sure this touched him on a completely different level.
This film is funny, in an I-can't-believe-I'm-laughing-about-this-it-should-be-painful kind of way, yet poignant. While not as dark as, say, "Secretary", it is still dark enough. The whole thrust of the story is that we all have a place and a dream and we're not really complete until we give our dream some credence.
The acting was terrific, across the board. Each character is lovable and there is no magic cure-all moment where everything wraps up neat and tidy. Even the side characters are multi-faceted. At the end of the story, characters have grown but they also retain their personalities. It is a charming, well-played story, and I highly recommend it. If you could appreciate the charm of "Napoleon Dynamite", then you will "get" this movie.
My only complaint is about the DVD itself. It is full-screen, so you miss the edges. Literally. For example, the opening credits list "rien Brody" and "Milla Jovo" as the actors in this film. There is also an integral scene at the family dinner table where the dialogue/action is at the edges of the screen, so you miss out on the important facial expressions. It is frustrating in this day and age to see a movie released with such skimpiness. The quality of this film deserves a better quality DVD release.
Absolutely wonderful!!!
I cannot tell you how much I adore this movie. The writing is very funny, the movie is sweet,but not syrupy,and everyone is terrific in their roles, especially Jovovitch,who plays punk rocker Fangora,and Jared Harris,who plays Illeana Douglas's stalker ex-fiancee Michael.And what can I say about Adrien Brody?He is incredible as Steven,a mild mannered wannabe ventriliquist. The man is brilliantly talented,and very sexy.If you like offbeat,quirky comedies,this movie will not dissapoint.
Brilliant
Writer/Director Greg Pritkin's formula for a brilliant comedy is so simple you wonder why it is not being widely copied. You write a quality screenplay, assemble an ensemble of very strong actors, turn this cast loose to slightly overplay each of your quirky characters, and find a quality editor to creatively assemble the film.
Of course writing or finding a screenplay this good is not easy nor is assembling a dream cast like this one. Getting Adrien Brody, Milla Jovovich, Illeana Douglas, Vera Farmiga, and Jared Harris to play your five main characters is almost unparalleled. All are extremely strong actors who were attracted to this quirky project because Pritkin was willing to turn them loose to play off each other. Because each character in "Dummy" is at least slightly off-kilter these over-the-top performances achieve a wonderful balance.
The cast has a Ukrainian favor, with Jovovich and Farmiga. Milla plays a hilarious role totally unlike anything you have seen from her (although there are similarities to her "Zoolander" character). The "R" rating is solely due to Milla's language much of which is simply the funniest swearing in film history. Vera is absolutely fantastic as the guest at the family dinner table-less extreme yet funnier than the family dinner scene in the "The Nutty Professor".
Jovovich's line about doing the "hora" refers to a dance frequently done at Jewish weddings. If you want to do it at your own wedding here are some instructions: 1. Stand in a circle holding the hands of the people on either side of you. 2. When the music starts, follow the circle as it rotates. 3. Step to the side, passing your left foot behind your right. 4. Move the right foot beside the left foot. 5. Step to the side again, passing your left foot in front of your right this time. 6. Continue as the circle keeps spinning, adding a little hop to your steps as you go faster. 7. Move toward the center of the circle and throw your hands, still holding those of the people beside you, in the air. 8. Lower your hands and move backward. 9. Repeat several times. 10. Resume spinning around the circle.
When he's not crafting lavish Hollywood features like Rain Man, Bugsy, or the misbegotten Sphere, Barry Levinson occasionally makes highly personal films (the so-called "Baltimore series" of Diner, Tin Men, Avalon, and Liberty Heights). The latter, a 1999 release that disappeared all too soon from theaters, finds the aging Levinson working in a vein of pure memory: lyrical, mystical, forgiving. Ben Foster and Adrien Brody star as the middle-class Jewish sons of a shrewd burlesque operator (Joe Mantegna) running a petty numbers racket on the side. Set in the mid-'50s, the story finds the boys restless within the confines of their tight-knit community and unwilling to be restrained or rejected by anti-Semitic barriers or other racial... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Adrien Brody - Bebe Neuwirth - Joe Mantegna Director(s): Barry Levinson DVD Release Date: Released the 06 November 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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This wonderful near miss of a movie was terribly treated by movie execs and critcs but the performance of Charlotte Ayanna alone is enough to make it deserving of a much better fate. From the moment she says "I'm dead" to the moment Jack goes to jail this flick is perfect and her performance as a devastated young woman on a downward spiral is painfully beautiful. Unfortunately, some clumsy dialog early in the flick and at the end made me wince but it wasn't enough to dilute the power of what Miss Ayanna did. This gal knows pain and was able to communicate it with breath taking honesty. And did I mention Adrian Brody? His performance is so real and watchable it's hard to understand how this movie passed so quickly under the radar. But all involved, including the director who did some... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Peter Sehr DVD Release Date: Released the 28 October 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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I saw this movie on late night cable. It's a wonderful substitute for "Silence of the Lambs" when I'm too lazy to pull out the DVD. Plot is excruciatingly similar-female cop has to drop her psychological armor to gain the trust of a psycho killer in order to free a high profile victim (a relative of a politician no less). Tierney and Brody gave very good performances. Too bad the characters' motives made absolutely no sense. One curious point-the husband/captain was named Tim. Actor Terry Kinney who played him also plays Tim McManus on HBO's Oz. To be typecast as a cop named Tim... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Richard Shepard DVD Release Date: Released the 25 February 2003 Usually ships within 24 hours
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I've watched this movie a dozen times and each time I see it I discover something brilliant about Brody's performance. It's not just his expressive facial movements, it's his ability to connect with the character and become the character, therefore, pulling the audience in. He moves in and out of each scene with a style and grace that's hard to find in many of today's elite actors. How he went virtually unnoticed by many until 'The Pianist' will always puzzle me, but if you're looking for a gritty film, that's true to art and brilliantly acted, see this movie. Adrian as Ray Jr. is worth the time alone. More Info about this DVD Director(s): Eric Bross DVD Release Date: Released the 26 October 1999 Usually ships within 24 hours
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