Dummy (2003) [Re-Up]

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Dummy (2003) [Re-Up]

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The sophomore effort from writer and director Greg Pritikin, who previously co-directed and acted in 1998's Totally Confused, Dummy stars Oscar winner Adrien Brody (The Pianist, Summer of Sam) as Steven, a recently unemployed ne'er-do-well who has difficulty expressing himself. Steven's best friend is Fanny, an aspiring singer played by Milla Jovovich (The Fifth Element, Resident Evil) who, along with Steven, is just looking for her niche. Eventually Fanny takes a shine to Yiddish music and Steven finds he has a knack for ventriloquism. Through his newfound talent, Steven discovers that he is able to overcome his social problems through his dummy and decides to try impressing and winning the heart of Lorena, played by Vera Farmiga (Autumn in New York, 15 Minutes). The winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2003 Santa Barbara Film Festival, Dummy also stars Illeana Douglas and Jared Harris.

Synopsis by Matthew Tobey, Allmovie.com

The thought of sitting through a comedy about a man and his talking dummy wasn’t the most enticing one, even with Academy Award nominee Adrien Brody as the man in question. But the film needed to be seen and I elected myself as the man to do it – a stroke of luck on my part as I saw one of the funniest films playing in Austin this week.

Adrien Brody plays Steven, a twentysomething shmoe, unemployed, living with his folks, and finally deciding to try his hand at his lifelong dream – ventriloquism. With his dummy on his lap, he’s not the best ventriloquist you’ve ever seen, but he’s not the worst and this wooden midget allows him to express himself in a way he was never able to before due to his shyness.

But “Dummy” doesn’t just focus on Steven. We get to meet his bizarre family – his retired father who sits around gluing model battleships together and watching porn, his mother who’s constantly trying to jam a sandwich down someone’s throat, his sister, played by Illeana Douglas, a wedding planner on the verge of a nervous breakdown due to her own relationship problems, and grandma…grandma just stands around and smiles. He also has a best friend, Fangora, played by Milla Jovovich, who’s a loud punk rocker, who takes to learning klezmer music in order to help his sister out at the upcoming wedding she’s planning. With friends and family like that, I would probably wind up on my bed, in my undies, talking to a dummy. But then there’s Steven’s unemployment officer, a pretty young single mother, who he finds himself falling for and who is possibly the one person that can help him come out of his shell.

With this marvelous cast of characters and the comic brilliance of writer/director Greg Pritikin, nary a minute goes by that you’re not slapping your knee with laughter. It’s amazing just how funny a film about suburb life can be, but then again, I’m certain that Pritikin would be able to make anything funny. Get this guy some more money to make another film…QUICK!! “Dummy” is an ultimate crowd-pleaser.

Review by Eric Campos, Film Threat

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Dummy (2003) [Re-Up]

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Dummy (2003) [Re-Up]

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Dummy (2003) [Re-Up]

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Dummy (2003) [Re-Up]

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Dummy (2003) [Re-Up]

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Dummy (2003) [Re-Up]

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Dummy (2003) [Re-Up]

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Dummy (2003) [Re-Up]

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Dummy (2003) [Re-Up]

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Dummy (2003) [Re-Up]

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Dummy (2003) [Re-Up]

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Dummy (2003) [Re-Up]

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Dummy (2003) [Re-Up]

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Dummy (2003) [Re-Up]

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Dummy (2003) [Re-Up]

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Special Features:

- Ventriloquist commentary by Jeff Dunham, 2 time ventriloquist of the year with special guests Walter and Peanut

- Dummies 101: Learning the ventriloquist dream

- "What type of dummy are you" game

- Ventriloquism a history of dummies

- Deleted scenes

- Trailer gallery

- Credits