Rijndri Load of rubbish!!

Adeel Hail Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

J. Spurlin Steven (Adrien Brody), nearly 30 and living with his parents, sees an old Edgar Bergen movie on TV and decides to fulfill his longtime dream of becoming a ventriloquist. His beautiful unemployment counselor Lorena (Vera Farmiga) finds him work, but puts out a restraining order on him when he paints a thank-you note on her door. Later, this young mother agrees to date him anyway, but finds his bickering family, and his inexperience with women, daunting to a relationship. Steven's sister Heidi (Illeana Douglas) is a wedding planner with a drunken ex-fiancé who keeps showing up at the door. His friend Fangora (Milla Jovavich) is a pseudo-punk rocker whose sex does not prevent her from giving him terrible advice about women. The wedding of a Jewish girl, who wants Klezmer music and gets something unexpected, will become a turning point in everyone's lives.Whoa, this is bad. Greg Pritikin directs his own script, about a tenth of which is funny. The rest strains hard to give us quirky characters, wacky situations and unexpected plot twists; but we can't buy any of it. The movie becomes unrecoverable when Lorena changes her mind about the restraining order and agrees to date Steven—after he mails her a videotaped apology featuring himself and his dummy. The message on her door disturbed her, but the tape charmed her? I could almost hear Vera Farmiga's brain going "ZZZZZT!" as she tried to play this character. Their relationship grows into the least believable nerd-with-beautiful-girl scenario I've ever seen.The performances are varied. Adrien Brody recovers fairly well from playing such a pointless character. Farmiga is charming, especially considering the impossibility of her job. Jovavich, with her affected Jersey accent, never quite seems to inhabit her character. Illeana Douglas, a good actress, does a lousy job here. She doesn't seem to get what she's doing, and we can hardly blame her.This is part of a sub-genre in comedy that I dislike: one that blurs the distinction between celebrating and belittling the losers it depicts. "Napoleon Dynamite," "Waiting for Guffman" and documentaries like "American Movie" and "Gates of Heaven" all belong in this dubious category. But "Dummy" is much worse. It's as phony as it is condescending.

ElvisKnievel Great idea, good acting, pathetic script. So ridiculously absurd that you'd have to be from another planet to think that this could ever happen. And it really is a very basic story- nothing really happens- but the chemistry between the characters is so lacking that you can't believe that there would ever be any genuine attraction between the two main characters. Even in other movies where the boring loser guy gets the hot chick, he at least has something to offer her. This movie was a complete waste of time, despite wonderful performances by most of the main characters. Illeana Douglas (Ghost World, Cape Fear, New York Stories) and Vera Farmiga (just an all around up and coming good looking film actress)were both exceptional.

jotix100 Greg Pritikin's "Dummy" kept reminding us about another film, "Napoleon Dynamite", in that both heroes of the films are kind souls that stick like sore thumbs in a society and films that are dominated by jerks and bullies. "Dummy" presents a family that doesn't appear to be too functional. Although there is a lack of eccentricity, Steven, is deemed too odd, by his sister, or the people he comes in contact with. Steven is a good soul trying to come to terms with life, in general. By deciding to become a ventriloquist, his inner self gets an outlet for expressing how he feels, but few, including his foul-mouthed friend, Fangora, understands him.When he meets the beautiful Lorena, who has processed his unemployment claim, Steven begins to chance and come out of his shell because of what he feels for the young woman who has had a hard life herself and is in need of a kind soul like Steven.The film will conquer anyone's heart because of the appealing performance of Adrien Brody. Vera Farmiga, as Lorena, fills the screen with her beauty and her common sense. Milla Jovovich is Fangora, the well intentioned friend with a motor mouth and a vocabulary to match. Ileana Douglas, Jessica Walter and Ron Leibman are seen as Steve's sister and parents respectively.No doubt Greg Pritikin will go to bigger and better things, but he is to be commended for creating a character of Steve, something one doesn't get to see much in the American cinema.

ResidentHazard Adrien Brody and Milla Jovovich star in this film about a group of people that are, for lack of a better term, a bunch of losers. Adrian Brody is an awkward person who chooses the ultimate career of the loser. One of a ventriloquist—complete with frightful dummy and a personality which can generally only be seen only when he speaks through said dummy. Milla Jovovich is a singer in a punk band that excels at maintaining constant failure. Each of our "heroes" still live with their respective parents—and their 10-year High School Reunion is around the bend (not part of the story except to give us the idea that, holy hell, these people are way too old to still be living at home!). Adrien's sister is a failed wedding planner who's latest wedding is for a Jewish family, a culture which she largely knows nothing about. Adrien Brody becomes attracted to the woman at the employment agency trying to help him find work, er, as a ventriloquist. He initially scares the hell out of her, but he of course, gradually convinces her of his worth, but only by speaking through his dummy, which for a large portion of the film, is the only way he can accurately or easily convey his thoughts to others. The film follows three distinct stories, Adrien Brody's, Milla Jovovich's, and Illeana Douglas' characters (Brody's sister)—all of which come together rather nicely.Here's the breakdown:The Good:--The acting is great and the characters are fascinating—each with their own level of depth, quirks, and loads of problems.--The movie looks and feels like an independent film, which I personally liked.--Great drama, great humor--but it's a quirky and weird humor.--A lot of character development and growth.Didn't Hurt It, Didn't Help:--Pretty much all the characters are losers or failures of some sort, so they're not easily likable. But the very human quality of the characters allows them to really grow on you.--Adrien Brody's dummy is smarter and a smoother talker than he is, but then again, that's a character trait…The Bad:--I suppose, if you hate watching people speak through dummies, you'll have a real problem with this. Otherwise, there is little wrong with this picture.--It's got kind of a "weird" vibe about it throughout, it's not painfully strong, but it hovers around there--the weirdness--which may be off-putting for some people.The Ugly:--Adrien Brody's father assembles model warships… while watching porn.Memorable Scene:--Adrien Brody's thank you "letter" to his employment case-worker--classy.Acting: 8/10 Story: 8/10 Atmosphere: 7/10 Cinematography: 7/10 Character Development: 10/10 Special Effects/Make-up: 0/10 (there was none) Nudity/Sexuality: 2/10 Violence/Gore: 1/10 (really wasn't any) Music: 8/10 Direction: 8/10Cheesiness: 3/10 Crappiness: 0/10Overall: 8/10A nice "dramedy" that makes you feel good when it ends. Good for anyone except people that hate that kind of stuff… Or those who fear ventriloquist dummies—you know who you are, you weirdoes. ( www.ResidentHazard.com ) ( http://bartboard.proboards3.com/index.cgi )