Film review: 'Pecker'
A hoot or hustle, depending on one's reaction, John Waters' "Pecker" is 86 minutes of tastelessness with a whimsical quality arising from the title character, a Baltimore shutterbug who improbably achieves fame for his candid images of working-class people and neighborhoods.
The writer-director's 13th film, "Pecker" was unzipped recently at the Toronto Film Festival and opens in theaters this month.
Starring Edward Furlong and featuring a large cast including Christina Ricci, Martha Plimpton, Lauren Hulsey and Mary Kay Place, the Fine Line release is too much of a lark for strong critical support, and Waters' brand of nastiness seems almost quaint compared with the more profane, graphic movies coming out regularly. Waters' fans and new converts should boost post-theatrical business, but it's ironic that he has become an elder statesman of sleaze as a new generation of envelope-pushing culture-prickers captures more attention.
Waters is in his usual playful mood -- a close-up of rats screwing is an early warmup -- and reverential after a fashion to his native Baltimore. Most of his low-budget movies have been set there, and "Pecker" is more of the same, minus the X-rated sequences and in-your-face filthiness of Waters' early films.
The result is pleasantly entertaining sludge with a goofy soundtrack and herky-jerky rhythm all its own. Furlong is well-cast as the good-natured, affable, 18-year-old hero, whose girlfriend (Ricci) tyrannically runs a laundromat. Light on its feet, the film opens with Pecker doing his thing -- constantly taking pictures of people on the street and in buses as well as embarrassing portraits of friends and family.
His older sister (Plimpton) works at the Fudge Palace, a male-stripper joint, while his food-obsessed younger sis (Hulsey) is the opposite of Pecker, who got his name for fussing at meals. Dad (Mark Joy) runs the Claw Machine, a bar across the street from the recently opened Pelt Room, a lesbian-infested strip club. Place is relatively normal as Pecker's homeless-friendly mom, while the lead's thieving best friend (Brendan Sexton III) is a barometer of how Pecker struggles with excessive good fortune as well as romance.
A New York art dealer (Lili Taylor) discovers Pecker's work at his homey opening at the Claw Machine. In short order, he and half the town are off to Manhattan, and Waters generates a few good laughs at the expense of snooty rivals and snotty sophisticates before the story veers into serious complications underscoring the class differences he is having fun with.
Pecker tries to reject fame because it upsets the fragile balance of decay and growth that makes his blue-collar world interesting material for art. But above all, he loves these people and their flaws.
Waters regulars Mink Stole, Vivian Pearce and Patricia Hearst appear in small roles. The film is visually polished and well-paced, with occasionally hilarious production design and costumes.
PECKER
Fine Line Features
Writer-director: John Waters
Producers: John Fiedler, Mark Tarlov
Executive producers: Mark Ordesky,
Joe Revitte, Jonathan Weisgal, Joe Caracciolo Jr.
Director of photography: Robert Stevens
Production designer: Vincent Peranio
Editor: Janice Hampton
Costume designer: Van Smith
Music: Stewart Copeland
Casting: Van Smith, Pat Moran
Color/stereo
Cast:
Pecker: Edward Furlong
Shelley: Christina Ricci
Tina: Martha Plimpton
Matt: Brendan Sexton III
Little Chrissy: Lauren Hulsey
Joyce: Mary Kay Place
Jimmy: Mark Joy
Rorey Wheeler: Lili Taylor
Running time -- 86 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
The writer-director's 13th film, "Pecker" was unzipped recently at the Toronto Film Festival and opens in theaters this month.
Starring Edward Furlong and featuring a large cast including Christina Ricci, Martha Plimpton, Lauren Hulsey and Mary Kay Place, the Fine Line release is too much of a lark for strong critical support, and Waters' brand of nastiness seems almost quaint compared with the more profane, graphic movies coming out regularly. Waters' fans and new converts should boost post-theatrical business, but it's ironic that he has become an elder statesman of sleaze as a new generation of envelope-pushing culture-prickers captures more attention.
Waters is in his usual playful mood -- a close-up of rats screwing is an early warmup -- and reverential after a fashion to his native Baltimore. Most of his low-budget movies have been set there, and "Pecker" is more of the same, minus the X-rated sequences and in-your-face filthiness of Waters' early films.
The result is pleasantly entertaining sludge with a goofy soundtrack and herky-jerky rhythm all its own. Furlong is well-cast as the good-natured, affable, 18-year-old hero, whose girlfriend (Ricci) tyrannically runs a laundromat. Light on its feet, the film opens with Pecker doing his thing -- constantly taking pictures of people on the street and in buses as well as embarrassing portraits of friends and family.
His older sister (Plimpton) works at the Fudge Palace, a male-stripper joint, while his food-obsessed younger sis (Hulsey) is the opposite of Pecker, who got his name for fussing at meals. Dad (Mark Joy) runs the Claw Machine, a bar across the street from the recently opened Pelt Room, a lesbian-infested strip club. Place is relatively normal as Pecker's homeless-friendly mom, while the lead's thieving best friend (Brendan Sexton III) is a barometer of how Pecker struggles with excessive good fortune as well as romance.
A New York art dealer (Lili Taylor) discovers Pecker's work at his homey opening at the Claw Machine. In short order, he and half the town are off to Manhattan, and Waters generates a few good laughs at the expense of snooty rivals and snotty sophisticates before the story veers into serious complications underscoring the class differences he is having fun with.
Pecker tries to reject fame because it upsets the fragile balance of decay and growth that makes his blue-collar world interesting material for art. But above all, he loves these people and their flaws.
Waters regulars Mink Stole, Vivian Pearce and Patricia Hearst appear in small roles. The film is visually polished and well-paced, with occasionally hilarious production design and costumes.
PECKER
Fine Line Features
Writer-director: John Waters
Producers: John Fiedler, Mark Tarlov
Executive producers: Mark Ordesky,
Joe Revitte, Jonathan Weisgal, Joe Caracciolo Jr.
Director of photography: Robert Stevens
Production designer: Vincent Peranio
Editor: Janice Hampton
Costume designer: Van Smith
Music: Stewart Copeland
Casting: Van Smith, Pat Moran
Color/stereo
Cast:
Pecker: Edward Furlong
Shelley: Christina Ricci
Tina: Martha Plimpton
Matt: Brendan Sexton III
Little Chrissy: Lauren Hulsey
Joyce: Mary Kay Place
Jimmy: Mark Joy
Rorey Wheeler: Lili Taylor
Running time -- 86 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 9/14/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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