The story of a dummy and his man.

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance
Role: Fangora “Fannie”
Director: Greg Pritikin
Additional 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)

• Overview
• Memorable Fangora Quotations
• Dummy Movie Trivia
• Critical Reception
• Dummy Online

Warning: Milla Fan movie overviews may contain spoilers. If you would like to remain 100% unspoiled as to the outcome of the film, we suggest you skip the overview.

There comes a time in everyone’s life when another day at your uninspiring job is just about all you can take. One day, 30-year-old Steve (Adrien Brody) decides to “seize the moment” and quits his desk job in order to pursue his passion career – that of a ventriloquist. 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), one of the few people to show any real interest in his doings. However, as Steve’s evident inability to express himself risks 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 own lonely existence, in which Steve has always been her only true friend.

More photos at our Dummy gallery!

["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.

Although audiences for independent releases such as Dummy are inevitably limited, Dummy received a largely positive critical response upon its limited U.S. theatrical release in September 2003. Critics appreciated the film’s charm, warmth and clever script as well as the cast’s endearing portrayals of their respective characters. Milla Jovovich’s performance was also commended by many critics, to whom this unexpected role came as a pleasant surprise; some reviewers even saw Milla’s portrayal of Fangora as stealing every scene from the rest of the, however excellent, cast.

• Rating > Internet Movie Database: 6.8/10 (3,400 user votes counted)
• Rating > Rotten Tomatoes: 72% positive reviews, “Fresh” (professional)

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

Dummy is really like a teddybear; thorougly endearing and “hug-worthy”. Although career reinvention isn’t exactly an unexplored topic in the movie industry, Dummy‘s strength nevertheless lies in its clever screenwriting, in which ordinary situations are quickly turned sidesplittingly awkward with just a few unusual elements. The casting is all around excellent, particularly that of Adrien Brody, whose character Steve despite setback after setback always seems to be enjoying some inner knowledge about life that everyone else yearns for. Only Jessica Walter’s casting is a minor disappointment as Walter, though excellent in her role, has once again been annoyingly typecast as the endlessly nagging, compulsive mother.

Milla Jovovich as Fangora is heartwarming, simply phenomenal. Fannie goes through quite the series of emotions and oddball situations, and yet there is not one moment in the film where Milla’s interpretation of the character would seem off or inappropriate. Also, in light of her earlier (and later) film work, it’s most refreshing to see Milla in a more dressed down, if not modest, role, where the emphasis is more on her charisma than her appearance. It’s a shame she hasn’t had the chance to do more comedic work than this, Zoolander and You Stupid Man, as the few times she has had the opportunity to play comedienne, she has proven herself most capable.

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