Cast: Edward Furlong, Christina Ricci, Bess Armstrong, Mark Joy, Mary Kay Place, Martha Plimpton,
Brendan Sexton III, Lili Taylor
Director: John Waters
Producers: John Fiedler, Mark Tarlov
Screenplay: John Waters
Cinematography: Robert Stevens
Music: Stewart Copeland
U.S. Distributor: Fine Line Features
In recent years, film maker John Waters, perhaps best known for directing what may be the most disgusting quasi-mainstream motion picture in movie history, Pink Flamingos, has been toning down his predilection for wild, gross-out humor. His 1993 feature, Serial Mom, came as close to being conventional as anything Waters has done. It wasn't funny, but it was entirely suitable for multiplex audiences. Now, along comes Pecker, and the most controversial element of this film is its salty title. The content is actually pretty bland -- it's not incisive, it's not daring, it's not uproarious, and it's not very good. Those who are fans of the "old" Waters will likely be disappointed by the director's timid approach this time around. Although Pecker contains a few funny moments, it's too tame. In fact, There's Something about Mary makes this movie seem like family entertainment.
Pecker is a warmhearted comedy about one boy's meteoric rise to fame within the art world. Along the way, Waters finds ample opportunity to satirize New York culture, Baltimore culture, and movies about how people's personalities are changed when they get their 15 minutes in the spotlight. While all of this sounds passably interesting, Pecker is not well-focused. Isolated moments offer a few good laughs, but, taken as a whole, there's not much here to hold an audience's attention. The best comedies feature at least one or two endearing characters; Pecker doesn't take the time to develop anyone beyond a sketchy outline. And the plot, despite the detours into straight parody, is aimless and plodding. Pecker is less than 90 minutes long, but that still seems a little on the fat side.
The main character (played by Edward Furlong) is nicknamed Pecker because of his tendency to peck at his food. He works at a fast food restaurant, flipping burgers and making sandwiches. On the side, he takes pictures of life in Baltimore, and, when he holds an impromptu photography show, he catches the attention of big-time art dealer Rorey Wheeler (Lili Taylor). She offers to represent him in New York, and Pecker is soon the talk of the Big Apple. At first, his friends and family are thrilled. His mother and father (Mary Kay Place and Mark Joy) are proud of him. His sister, Tina (Martha Plimpton), an emcee at a local gay strip joint, is thrilled at the attention she's getting. His best friend, Matt (Brendan Sexton III), enjoys the bevy of beautiful women who are suddenly paying attention to him. Only his girlfriend, Shelley (Christina Ricci), is unhappy, because spending time with Pecker in New York requires that she take a day off from her work as the manager of a laundromat, a job she takes way too seriously. However, as Pecker's fame skyrockets, bad things start happening to everyone around him. His house is robbed, his sister loses her job, Shelley thinks he's two-timing her, and his grandmother becomes a laughingstock.
Pecker occasionally manages to tickle the funny bone. A minor subplot featuring Pecker's hyperactive sister, Little Chrissy (Lauren Hulsey), is worth a laugh or two. And Waters manages to include some amusing and mildly subversive material in his presentation of Pecker's big New York debut. Shelley's obsession with the laundromat is amusing at first, but that quickly wears thin. Other than those isolated sequences, there's not much of note in this film, although it does introduce the concept of teacupping (when male strippers press their testicles to the foreheads of patrons) to the general public.
Edward Furlong plays the lead character with the kind of uninspired blandness that frequently has him fading into the background. Almost everyone steals scenes from Furlong, including unlikely suspects Mary Kay Place (who is delightful) and Brendan Sexton III (who isn't). Christina Ricci is strangely subdued; after observing her recent forceful performances in The Opposite of Sex and Buffalo 66, it's a little odd to see her this low key. About the only one who really seems to have a handle on her role is Lili Taylor. Patricia Hearst, a Waters regular in recent years, has a supporting role.
If Waters' goal with Pecker was to make a completely mainstream movie that could play in multiplexes alongside Saving Private Ryan and Ronin, he has certainly succeeded. Whether he has alienated his loyal cult following in the process remains to be seen. Whatever Waters' motivation for making this unremarkable motion picture, however, the next time around, he needs to work on something more fundamental: developing a movie that's more than fitfully entertaining.
© 1998 James Berardinelli