The story of a dummy and his man.

• Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance
• Role: Fangora “Fannie”
• Director: Greg Pritikin
• Selected Cast: Adrien Brody, Ileana Douglas, Vera Farmiga, Jessica Walter, Jared Harris, Ron Leibman
• Production Company: Quadrant Entertainment
• U.S. Release Date: September 12 2003 (limited)

In an attempt to “seize the moment,” 30-year-old Steve (Adrien Brody) one day decides to quit his uninspiring desk job in order to pursue the career of his dreams - that of a ventriloquist. Even though his disturbingly dysfunctional family scarcely ever takes notice of Steve and his doings, he remains unfazed at pursuing his new career goal, and seeks for new employment as an entertainer/ventriloquist through the local unemployment office. The office turns out to be a turning point in Steve’s life in more ways than one, when he finds himself attracted to his beautiful unemployment counselor Lorena (Vera Farmiga), who becomes one of the few people in his life truly interested in who Steve really is. However, as Steve’s evident inability to express himself is squandering his chances with Lorena, he begins to lose his faith both in himself - and his dummy.

Milla Jovovich portrays Fangora “Fannie”, a quirky punk rocker and Steve’s best friend, despite the two being the polar opposites of one another. As Steve confesses to Fangora his affection for Lorena, Fangora’s oddball dating tips, although of the best of intentions, cause more harm than good, and their friendship is ruptured when Fangora, no longer being the only friend in Steve’s life, begins to feel isolated and abandoned in her lonely existence in which Steve is her only true friend.

["Because every klezmer band in town is booked and I desperately need a band. But if I hire you, you have to be willing to "hora". Is that a problem?"] “Oh man, at this point I’d fuck anyone.”

“I bought a gift for you.” ["Oh no."] “Actually, I lifted it from Borders.”

“You can fuck me if I’m wrong!”

“Classical music makes women horny. Just trust me on this one.”

“D’you know our high school reunion’s comin’ up? Ten years… D’you know how depressing that is? D’you think I don’t wanna slash my fucking wrists when I think about that? Goddamn it!”

“Steven, you drive like my fucking grandma! Wait… that’s actually an insult because my grandma drives better than you do!”

“Fucking suburbanized shit!”

No trivia available.

Upon its 2002-2003 release, Dummy received a largely positive response from audiences worldwide as well as professional critics, who appreciated the film’s charm, warmth and clever script sprinkled with dark comedy, as well as the cast’s endearing portrayals of their respective characters. Milla’s performance was also commended by many critics, to whom this surprising role came pleasant, and some even argued Milla’s genuine portrayal of Fangora stole each scene from the rest of the, however excellent, cast.

Extracts from professional reviews:

“While Steven’s model-ship-making dad and sandwich-making mom seem too busy to notice, he gets support from his best friend, Fangora (Milla Jovovich like you’ve never seen her), a tough grrrl punk rocker whose band is going nowhere. [...] It’s no surprise that Brody, Douglas, Walter and Leibman make for one highly entertaining, if messed up, family unit, but the big revelation here is Jovovich, who finally gets a chance to really cut loose, showing some serious comedic chops as the raging-against-the-machine, ratty-haired, camouflage-wearing Fangora.” - Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter

“Steven has a best friend in a punk wannabe neighbour, a tough savage played with great flair by Milla Jovovich. As Fangora, Jovovich gets to display large amounts of loyalty and anger. She offers Steven romantic advice, for example, that almost lands him in jail. [...] Dummy is a small, quirky film about regular people trying to realize their dreams against all the odds. It’s also a film about just what constitutes adult life, but it’s too smart to try to offer Big, Important Answers. The characters are all strangely endearing, and the real pleasure of the movie is just watching them interact.” - Liz Braun, Jam! Showbiz

“Well I take it all back because in this film, surrounded by the best of the best, Milla Jovovich is a joy ot bheh;old (excuse the typos, but my fists are clenching as I type). Jovovich, as Steven’s high school geek buddy turned punk rock wannabe, is quite honestly worthy of her own film in this role. She is shockingly good; funny, three-dimensional, gorgeous without being model-esque and a total scenery-chewer. [...] Yes, I’m sounding like Joel Siegel here, but I simply loved this film. It’s quite honestly a great time from end to end. I honestly can’t think of a negative in this film, and my therapist will tell you I’m a pretty negative guy.” - Chris Parry, eFilmCritic

Personal Thoughts

Greg Pritikin’s Dummy is first and foremost an endearing film, to such an extent that you almost feel tempted to hug it. Despite its rather unoriginal starting point, the film’s script comes as a pleasant surprise with its small, quick turns in dialogue that make up a sidesplittingly awkward situation. Character-wise, the focus is on Adrien Brody’s Steve, whom you always suspect of enjoying some inner knowledge about life you don’t know of, despite his awkwardness and seeming inability to adequately communicate himself to his contemporaties. Only Jessica Walter’s character is a bit of a disappointment, as Walter, though carrying out her role with the skill of an experienced actor, is once again typecast as the nagging, neurotic mother completely oblivious to the consequences of her behavior.

Milla’s performance in Dummy is positively wonderful. Although she had already played the tough, female character in many an action film by then, the role of Fangora required something more of Milla than just dressing down and portraying a tough exterior - it required a new, more sensitive approach to acting, something which I think Milla achieved with flying colors. In the end, largely thanks to Milla touching performance, the quirky Fangora is not simply Steve’s tough-girl sidekick, but also someone of a hidden loneliness.

Below are some Dummy related links that may be of interest to you.

• Dummy official site
• Dummy TFL-approved fanlisting
• Dummy TFL-approved Fangora character fanlisting
• Dummy at IMDb.com
• Dummy at RottenTomatoes.com
• Dummy at Wikipedia.org

• Greg Pritikin at IMDb.com
• Greg Pritikin at Wikipedia.org

• Adrien Brody at Adrien Brody Online
• Vera Farmiga at Vera Farmiga Online