Dummy review

Made before his Oscar winning turn in The Pianist, Dummy sees Adrien Brody play Steven, a soft-spoken, insipid man suffocated by his overbearing Jewish family, who turns to ventriloquism and a wooden companion for solace. The dummy embodies all of Steven's inner thoughts and none of his own crippling self-doubt. Cringingly funny at times, with a tender heart, Dummy sports a wealth of eccentric characters who inhabit a bizarre reality where the constant presence of a talking wooden doll is one of the less strange occurrences.

With the central role of a ventriloquist, Dummy inevitably draws comparisons with Magic, the 1978 thriller starring Anthony Hopkins. But while the William Goldman script explored the notion of the doll controlling his master for sinister ends, Dummy instead focuses on the how the doll is able to build Steven's confidence and help his bumbling romantic forages.

Still living at home with his parents and equally forlorn sister Heidi (Illeana Douglas), Steven is approaching 30 and jobless, having just been sacked from from his menial clerical job. His only friend is an old school chum, the manic Fangora (played with an infectious intensity by Milla Jovovich) who fronts her own punk band and harbors dream of becoming a star. The theme of unrealized ambition is one that permeates Dummy. Heidi's own singing aspirations were quashed early on by her discouraging mother, while Steven's long held wish of becoming a ventriloquist is only finally being pursued now that all other avenues have been exhausted.

Cooped up in his room, away from his mocking family, he hones his craft, which usually consists of suffering blunt criticism regarding his lack of dynamism and ability at the hands of the more assertive dummy. His hobby becomes his profession following a meeting with his timid and pretty career advisor Lorena (Vera Farmiga). And it's her affection he tries to win using the dummy for support after his initial effort resulted in a restraining order when Fangora's extreme tactics went unappreciated.

Writer/ director Greg Pritikin has created a work of underlying sweetness coupled with an endearing quirkiness, though towards the end things show signs of spiraling from quirkiness into absurdity. At Dummy's heart though are some touching characters brought to life by some wonderful performances, notably Brody who continues to prove his versatility and effortless truth.