Dummy DVD Review:

Last year, at the 2002 Academy Awards, Adrien Brody drew attention by winning the best actor award, and of course, for kissing Halle Berry on
stage. At that moment he became a household name and an Academy Award winner. With those two things going for him, he had the choice to nearly make any film he wanted to, and yet Brody returned to his roots of independent cinema and made the underground gem, Dummy, showing even more reason why he was deserving of the award he received.


Dummy is the story of Steven Schoichet, a man in his late twenties, unemployed and living at home with his loud and brash parents and sister.
Steven is the exact opposite of his family, he is quiet, meek, and does everything he can to adjust to the people around him so that they are
comfortable and happy, regardless of the discomfort it may force him to endure. This is how he acts in his relationship with his seemingly only
friend, Fangora, played by Milla Jovovich, and his job councilor, Lorena, whom he has developed a crush on.

One night Stephen makes up his mind that it is time for him to finally pursue his dream of becoming a ventriloquist, and the next day he goes out
and buys himself a dummy, much to the dismay of his family and friends. Soon, with the help of Lorena, Stephen is booking small jobs with his dummy, including a show at the local retirement home.

Suddenly, upon making this decision, Stephen’s life seems to get increasingly better, and he starts dating his job councilor, Lorena, only
after a brief mishap involving a restraining order, which is one of the most painfully original sequences I have ever seen in a romantic comedy. Even still, it seems as if every time Stephen has something good happen for him, there is a contrasting factor that attempts to push him down, usually being his family, and sometimes the dummy, which speaks down to him while he is
practicing. The dummy in fact, seems to take on a personality of its own, insulting Stephen, but also pushing him to try harder.

There is hardly an aspect of this film that I didn’t love. It was incredibly original, with a fantastic cast to back the wonderful material. Adrian Brody makes a strong choice in this film, and he approaches the
material with such furious dedication that he even performs all of the ventriloquism himself, showing great versatility and talent as well as wonderful taste in projects to work on. It’s amazing to think that a film like this could be made by a first time director, and yet it is.

Director and writer Greg Pritikin shows such a remarkable eye for story that one almost hopes that Hollywood never gets a hold of him and conforms him. It would be much more beneficial to film if he stayed right where he was and continued to make films of this caliber.

The DVD itself is jam packed with a large assortment of special features, some of which are fairly pointless, and some which are either incredibly entertaining or interesting. There are deleted scenes, a “Dummy” commentary,
a few ventriloquist featurettes, and possibly the most entertaining menu screens that I have seen on a DVD. The DVD has been produced fantastically,
and it’s fitting to how great the film is.

Ryan Izay

Site Contents Copyright© The Z Review, unless used with permission.This site has no intention to infringe on the rights of the film owners of Dummy and intellectual copyright holders of the movies mentioned herein & hold copyright over the movie, characters, merchandise & storyline.