Dummy (2002 film)

Last updated
Dummy
Dummyposter.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Greg Pritikin
Written byGreg Pritikin
Produced by
  • Richard Temtchine
  • Bob Fagan
Starring
CinematographyHoracio Marquínez
Edited by
  • William Henry
  • Michael Palmerio
Music by Paul Wallfisch
Production
company
Quadrant Entertainment
Distributed by Artisan Entertainment
Release dates
  • February 21, 2002 (2002-02-21)(AFM)
  • September 12, 2003 (2003-09-12)(United States)
Running time
91 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$71,646 [1]

Dummy is a 2002 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Greg Pritikin. The film stars Adrien Brody as an ex-office worker who becomes a ventriloquist. It also stars Milla Jovovich, Illeana Douglas, Vera Farmiga, Jessica Walter, Ron Leibman, and Jared Harris. It premiered at the American Film Market on February 21, 2002, and received a limited theatrical release on September 12, 2003.

Contents

Plot

Steven Schoichet is a recently unemployed ne'er-do-well who has difficulty expressing himself. Steven finds he has a knack for ventriloquism. Steven's best friend is Fangora "Fanny" Gurkel, an aspiring punk rock singer who, along with Steven, is just looking for her niche. Eventually, Fanny takes a shine to klezmer music when she learns of an opportunity to get an actual gig. 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 Fanchetti.

Cast

Production

Casting

In May 2000, it was reported by Variety that Adrien Brody and Milla Jovovich had been cast in the film, Brody as the lead character of Steven, and Jovovich as the best friend of Brody's character. [2] The following month, in June 2000, it was announced that Illeana Douglas had joined the cast in a supporting role. [3] Vera Farmiga, Ron Leibman, Jared Harris and Jessica Walter were also cast in supporting roles. Brody (who had no previous experience as a ventriloquist) performed all of the ventriloquism and puppetry live during shooting, doing so without puppeteering stand-ins or voiceover dubbing. He was coached prior to and during production by veteran actor-ventriloquist-puppetmaker Alan Semok, who is credited in the film as special consultant and designer/creator of the title character.

Filming

Principal photography took place in New York City, Wayne, New Jersey, and Long Island, New York in July and August 2000.

Reception

Box office

The film was given a limited release in the United States. Dummy made $30,130 from 5 theaters in its opening weekend. It made an additional $41,516 at the box office for a total domestic gross of $71,646. [1]

Critical reception

Dummy received mostly positive reviews from film critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 71%, based on 34 reviews, with an average rating of 6.15/10. The site's consensus reads, "Dummy is a sweet family comedy that succeeds due to charming performances, even if the final product feels slightly undercooked." [4] On Metacritic, the film holds a 48% rating based on 12 critical reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milla Jovovich</span> American actress and model (born 1975)

Milica Bogdanovna Jovovich, known professionally as Milla Jovovich, is an American actress and model. Her starring roles in numerous science-fiction and action films led the music channel VH1 to deem her the "reigning queen of kick-butt" in 2006. In 2004, Forbes determined that she was the highest-paid model in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrien Brody</span> American actor (born 1973)

Adrien Nicholas Brody is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Władysław Szpilman in Roman Polanski's war drama The Pianist (2002), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor at age 29, becoming the youngest actor to win in that category. He also became the second American male actor to win the César Award for Best Actor for the same film. He has starred in several other films and has received several other awards including nominations for a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessica Walter</span> American actress (1941–2021)

Jessica Ann Walter was an American actress who appeared in over 170 film, stage and television productions. In films, she was best known for her role as a psychotic and obsessed fan of a local disc jockey in the 1971 Clint Eastwood thriller, Play Misty for Me. On television, she was most recently known for her role of Lucille Bluth on the sitcom Arrested Development, and providing the voice of Malory Archer on the FX animated series Archer (2009–21). Walter received various awards over the course of her television career including a Primetime Emmy Award for Amy Prentiss (1975). She also received two Golden Globe Award nominations and three Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. For her starring role opposite Eastwood in Play Misty for Me, Walter received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul W. S. Anderson</span> British filmmaker

Paul William Scott Anderson is an English filmmaker who regularly works in science fiction films and video game adaptations.

<i>The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc</i> 1999 film by Luc Besson

The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc is a 1999 English-language French epic historical drama film directed by Luc Besson and starring Milla Jovovich, John Malkovich, Faye Dunaway and Dustin Hoffman. The screenplay was written by Besson and Andrew Birkin, and the original score was composed by Éric Serra.

<i>The Million Dollar Hotel</i> 2000 American film

The Million Dollar Hotel is a 2000 drama film based on a concept story by Bono and Nicholas Klein, directed by Wim Wenders, and starring Jeremy Davies, Milla Jovovich, and Mel Gibson. The film features music by U2 and various musicians that was released on the soundtrack, The Million Dollar Hotel: Music from the Motion Picture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vera Farmiga</span> American actress (born 1973)

Vera Ann Farmiga is an American actress. Farmiga began her professional acting career on stage in the original Broadway production of Taking Sides (1996). After expanding to television and film, Farmiga's breakthrough came in 2004 with her starring role as a drug addict in the drama Down to the Bone. She received praise for starring in the 2009 comedy-drama Up in the Air, for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Dunham</span> American ventriloquist and comedian (born 1962)

Jeffrey Douglas Dunham is an American ventriloquist, stand-up comedian and actor who has also appeared on numerous television shows, including Late Show with David Letterman, Comedy Central Presents, The Tonight Show and Sonny With a Chance. He has six specials that run on Comedy Central: Arguing with Myself, Spark of Insanity, Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special, Controlled Chaos, Minding the Monsters, and All Over the Map. Dunham also starred in The Jeff Dunham Show, a series on the network in 2009.

<i>The Ten</i> (film) 2007 American film

The Ten is a 2007 anthology comedy film directed by David Wain, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Ken Marino. It was released through ThinkFilm. The film was released on August 3, 2007. The DVD was released on January 15, 2008. It is an international co-production between the United States and Mexico. It received mixed reviews.

<i>Devil Doll</i> (film) 1964 British film

Devil Doll is a 1964 British horror film about an evil ventriloquist, "The Great Vorelli", and his dummy Hugo, directed by Lindsay Shonteff. It stars Bryant Haliday, William Sylvester and Yvonne Romain.

Greg Pritikin is an independent filmmaker from Chicago.

Botanica was a New-York based band, originally founded in Los Angeles in 1999. It was led by Firewater co-conspirator, keyboardist/singer Paul Wallfisch. The band was named after Botánica stores, which trade in folk medicine, amulets, and other products regarded as magical or as alternative medicine. On 15 January 2014, the band announced via its Facebook page as well as its official website that it was "on indefinite leave".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryan W. Simon</span>

Bryan W. Simon is a stage, film director and writer from Waukegan, Illinois. He directed his first professional stage play at 17, the regional tour of a children's show entitled Jack and The Wishing Beans, for the Roundtree Players.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taissa Farmiga</span> American actress (born 1994)

Taissa Farmiga is an American actress. Her numerous appearances in horror films have established her as a scream queen, alongside her older sister Vera Farmiga.

<i>Road Hard</i> 2015 American film

Road Hard is a 2015 comedy film directed by Adam Carolla and written by Carolla and Kevin Hench. The film stars Carolla, Diane Farr, Larry Miller, David Alan Grier, and David Koechner. The film was released in selected theaters and on video on demand on March 6, 2015. This was Windell Middlebrooks' last film, as he died three days after the premiere.

Valentine Vox is a British born American ventriloquist and author known for his scholarly book on the history of ventriloquism, I Can See Your Lips Moving: the history and art of ventriloquism, which traces the practice back some three thousand years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vera Farmiga on screen and stage</span> American actress

Vera Farmiga is an American actress. She began her career on stage as an understudy in Ronald Harwood's 1996 play Taking Sides on Broadway. The following year, she starred in the Off-Broadway play Second-Hand Smoke (1997) by Mac Wellman. Farmiga made her film debut in the drama-thriller Return to Paradise (1998). She then had supporting roles in the romantic drama film Autumn in New York (2000), the crime drama film The Opportunists (2000), and the action thriller film 15 Minutes (2001). Farmiga's breakthrough role came in 2004, when she was cast in the drama film Down to the Bone. For her performance, she won the Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize for Acting and was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead. She then starred in the political thriller The Manchurian Candidate (2004) and the crime thriller Running Scared (2006).

<i>We Have Always Lived in the Castle</i> (film) 2018 American film

We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a 2018 American mystery thriller film directed by Stacie Passon, written by Mark Kruger, and starring Taissa Farmiga, Alexandra Daddario, Crispin Glover, and Sebastian Stan. It was based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Shirley Jackson.

<i>Monster Hunter</i> (film) 2020 film by Paul W. S. Anderson

Monster Hunter is a 2020 monster film written, directed, and produced by Paul W. S. Anderson, based on the video game series of the same name by Capcom. The film stars Milla Jovovich in her fifth outing together with Anderson. The other cast members include Tony Jaa, Tip Harris, Meagan Good, Diego Boneta, Josh Helman, Jin Au-Yeung, and Ron Perlman. The film follows Artemis (Jovovich) and her loyal soldiers when they are transported to a new world, where they engage in a battle for survival against enormous monsters with incredible powers.

References

  1. 1 2 "The Dummy (2002)". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved July 6, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Jovovich crashes into 'Dummy' with Brody". Variety . May 30, 2000.
  3. ↑ "Illeana Douglas". Variety . June 15, 2000.
  4. ↑ "Dummy (2003)". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Dummy Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved June 12, 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.