Dummy (2002)

I bought this movie really cheap as a fan of Adrian Brody and Vera Farmiga and to be honest wasn't expecting much. But I was pleasantly surprised to find one of the funniest and most moving films I have seen in a long time. It's a strange little film but brilliantly acted by everyone involved - Brody was stunning (his video to Vera Farmiga's character "i'm not used to people being nice to me" had me close to tears and not many movies do that to me) and it's easy to see why he's an established Oscar winning actor now. He has such a raw likability and the script makes sure we are always on his side. Vera Farmiga was also excellent but I was most impressed by the supporting cast - Milla Jovovich, Illeana Douglas and Jared Harris were wonderful. It's a short film and moves along at a cracking and funny pace, I was annoyed as my DVD had a scratch on and it jumped so I missed a small bit - the point i'm making is that I liked this movie so much i'm gonna go out and buy it again 'cos I lost the receipt! The only flaw I think it has is the ending when Steven throws his voice - I thought it was very far fetched and the fight he then has was quite badly filmed - the camera didn't find its place. It also becomes a bit over sentimental because this was surprisingly a movie with a lot of dark themes and I expected the ending to make a bigger thing of them. Other than that though, the best movie I have seen in ages and I would recommend it to anyone!

Adrien Brody , Milla Jovovich, and Illeana Douglas are all hilarious in this great little comedy... Beautiful Milla shows her unique talent for being simultaneously really sexy and really funny, as she did 5 yrs earlier, in "The Fifth Element"... What I like most is that the humour is mainly subtle. The funniest bits are more understated than they are in the bigger-budget comedies with the in-your-face – appeal to the broadest possible audience stuff... "Dummy" is a fine example of not compromising, in order to harvest the biggest-possible box-office receipts. I give this side-splitting indie 8 big-ones and whole-heartedly recommend it.

Great idea, good acting, pathetic script. So ridiculously absurd that you'd have to be from another planet to think that this could ever happen. And it really is a very basic story- nothing really happens- but the chemistry between the characters is so lacking that you can't believe that there would ever be any genuine attraction between the two main characters. Even in other movies where the boring loser guy gets the hot chick, he at least has something to offer her. This movie was a complete waste of time, despite wonderful performances by most of the main characters. Illeana Douglas (Ghost World, Cape Fear, New York Stories) and Vera Farmiga (just an all around up and coming good looking film actress)were both exceptional.

Adrien Brody and Milla Jovovich star in this cutesy romantic comedy about your typical misunderstood but nice loser who's unlucky in love and life who decides one day to quit his job and become a ventriloquist. Things are slow going so he needs to find a job but he ends up falling for his unemployment case worker. Things start off a bit badly thanks to his best bud (Jovovich) but warm up as everything falls around them."Dummy" isn't original by any means but the cast is excellent and likable and Brody and the 'Dummy" are quite funny. It wraps up in usual fashion with everyone getting what they need in the end.Pretty conventional but entertaining.S10 rating: 3/5 or 7/10