Pecker (1998)

I love this movie so much

Powerful

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

The uninhibited photographs of a young shutterbug in Baltimore are discovered by an art dealer from New York City, who turns the kid into a reluctant celebrity. By now, we know what to expect with a John Waters comedy: colorfully outré characters with quirky jobs whose lives are underscored with rude, snorting satire and odd, funny selections on the soundtrack. Edward Furlong is confidently goofy in the leading role of Pecker (so-called because of his boyhood tendency to pick at his food), but many of the other performances are stiff or awkward. Waters is an idea-man; he sets up potentially raucous running jokes and populates his scenario with wild caricatures (like lesbian strippers), yet he's still having trouble getting those ideas onto the screen. His timing is so wobbly that many scenes border on being funny but ultimately miss the mark, while certain characters (like Pecker's bartender sister and his religious ventriloquist Memama) keep promising to be funnier than they are. Of course, writer-director Waters is an acquired taste--some will find his prankish sense of humor naughty and winking, while others will balk early--yet he's in danger of repeating himself. The Baltimore milieu might be played out for him--although, when Waters ventures into New York high society, he doesn't seem comfortable there at all. Like many of his recent films, the final act is just a hammy mess of over-playing, while the satirical points Waters hopes to make get lost in a deluge of happy-hearted sleaze. *1/2 from ****

This film is about a young man from a village who suddenly shoots himself to fame with his camera."Pecker" has a charming story. It is an ordinary story about a young man who cannot handle the fame, but all the characters are extraordinary. The character development is excellent, every character has distinctive personality and a well defined role in the film. The resultant chemistry is warm, vibrant and uplifting. I am particularly impressed by the sugar-obsessed little girl's performance, who would have thought that she can play normal and a spoiled kid so convincingly? I am surprised that she has not been in more films."Pecker" is fun, warm and vibrant. Life through the lens is so mysteriously attractive!

John Waters became a cult-cinema hero in the 70's instantly after delivering the bad-taste milestone "Pink Flamingos" and he continued pleasing his trash-horny fans (including me) with extraordinary and incomparable movies like "Female Trouble", "Desperate Living" and "Polyester". True, Waters' movies were offensive, shocking and often repulsive but they simultaneously were unique outsiders in an overall politically correct American film industry. Nearly twenty years later, there's very few ingeniousness left inside Water's mind and it also looks like he has developed morality and grew a consciousness. He still pretends to be controversial by portraying his beloved Baltimore as an antipathetic wasteland where the people are shameless and eccentric, but he sure ain't provoking anybody. The plot of "Pecker" is very ordinary and basically just a reworking of two of the oldest 'lessons' in storytelling. 1) success and wealth do not equal happiness and 2) home sweet home... even if it is Baltimore! Pecker works in a snack bar but he merely is obsessed by photography and spends his days stalking friends, family and neighbors with a camera as the extension of his eyes. During a local presentation, he's discovered by a fancy New York art dealer and, all of a sudden, every eminent art critic is interested in Pecker's portrayal of the 'culturally challenged' (like described beautifully in the film) models. The dialogs are dull, the script is unoriginal and most gags are so tasteless that they seem to come straight out of a Farrelly-brothers movie (sex in a cubicle?). The acting isn't very good neither and especially Christina Ricci was a bad choice to play the neurotic laundry-shrew. Thank God there also are some positive things to mention! The little Chrissy character, for example, Pecker's hyperactive and sugar-addicted kid sister. Or the "shopping for others" game, which really looks like fun.

This movie is one of those which I saw by pure chance. We have all seen one of these before, whether flicking through the channels through insomnia, or through plain boredom and seem to catch the first five minutes of the film. So I could not get any sleep, since my circadian rhythms is gone to pot, and the TV was my only source of entertainment of that day, due to the lack of motivation of going out and money I have. What can i say, I am a university student? Watch out for Spoilers.The main character Pecker, is a amateur shutterbug, who would take any pictures of his humdrum but quirky life. He takes pictures of his bizarre family, which would consist of a ADHD little sister, a female sibling who is an MC for a gay strip club, a grandma who is seems to hear the Virgin Mary speak to her, even though it is her who provides the voice for her, a philantrophic mother and a father who wants to boycott the lesbian strip club next door to his bar. The little world that he lives in gets the camera treatment and the local people get involved as well. Pecker decides to hold his photographs on show in his work place, whereby a high profile art collector sees his work and absolutely loves it. This is where the roller-coaster of Pecker's life begins. The art collector begins to show Pecker's work in the big art galleries, and he is a darling in the modern art scene, to the dismay and disgust of his townsfolk.The story is pretty basic with some gaping plot holes and a pretty easy ending to tie it up. However it is not the plot which gives it the enjoyment, but the characters and the predicaments that occur with them. I think Edward Furlong is perfect as the main character, however this is not a career defining movie for him, but somehow he did enjoy it. The indie darling Christina Ricci did not have enough to play on this role of Pecker's annoyed girlfriend, but she did what she could. The other characters were a little bit bizarre but seemed to fit into the movie quite well. Though there is one character I liked a lot, which was little Chrissy. She may have had probably one of the funniest scenes in the movie, where she is off the sugar and chocolate and onto the vegetables. She just snorts a piece of vegetable. That got me in stitches that no one can imagine.In conclusion, I think this movie does have to get some recommendation for at least trying hard to be funny, and the characters are quite amicable. However I wish they did not have a really fluffy ending. That was a let down.