Dummy (2002)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Greg Pritikin

Writer:

Greg Pritikin (written by)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

The story of a dummy and his man.

Plot:

An ex-office worker becomes a ventriloquist, leading to a date with his unemployment counselor; but his quirky family and a gauche female friend may thwart his new career and love life.

Plot Keywords:

Wedding | Ventriloquist | Restraining Order | Unemployment Office | Accountant

Cast

Adrien Brody	...	Steven
Milla Jovovich	...	Fangora
Illeana Douglas	...	Heidi
Vera Farmiga	...	Lorena
Jessica Walter	...	Fern
Ron Leibman	...	Lou
Jared Harris	...	Michael
Mirabella Pisani	...	Bonnie
Helen Hanft	...	Mrs. Gurkel
Richmond Hoxie	...	Sorensen
Adam LeFevre	...	Theater Director
Joanne Bayes	...	Actress
Lou Martini Jr.	...	Unemployed Italian (as Lou Marini Jr.)
Gabor Morea	...	Unemployed Frottager (as Gabor Mobea)
Edward Hibbert	...	Unemployed Actor

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

USA:91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Yiddish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:14A (Ontario) | Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | UK:15 | Australia:M | Italy:T | Singapore:PG | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Commack, Long Island, New York, USA

Company:

Dummy Productions LLC

Trivia:

The store that Steven buys his dummy at is called "Halloween Adventure". It is located in New York City.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Stephen brings home the dummy for the first time, he only opens the latch on the left side of the suitcase first. In the next shot, he opens both of the latches, even though the left would have already been unlatched.

Quotes:

Heidi: Steven?
[Enters Steven's room and sees him in his underwear, with his dummy dressed as a child]
Heidi: ... Gross! You look like a child molester!

Movie Connections:

References Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

Soundtrack:

Dummy

Brilliant - one of my top 5 films of all time

I really liked the quirky humour and though Adrien Brody's acting was astonishing, the ensemble playing and the interplay of dummy and people was what made the film work for me. I am an ignorant English Quaker and I had a simple question for the director or Adrien or any other American viewers. Is Adrien's character meant to represent a specifically Jewish character, or is the film, as I suspect, more universal in its design?

I teach 11-16 year olds and have written books on mainstreaming children with special needs. I may have read the movie all wrong, but to me the humour brought alive all the hassle that children with Asperger's Syndrome have, trying to communicate their ideas and feelings to an uncomprehending world. My old school has one of the best records in UK for bringing children on the autistic spectrum out of special schools into ordinary classrooms and get great results for them. It takes real love for the staff to help the other children treat them with the kind of respect they need to show their proper talents. The anguish in Adrien's eyes was met with perfect friendship and love in his sister and girl friends and I thought that it was this that helped him reveal his true talents.

I have never filled in a comments box like this before and I only do so because Dummy is one of my all time favourite movies

Respect