John Waters... If that got you excited then this film is critic proof for you. If not, well then perhaps nothing will convince you to see a John Waters film. Most either love him or loathe him. Me, I enjoy his work, appreciate his weirdness, but sometimes I don't want to scratch the dog-sh*t square and snort in the fumes... of course that's only sometimes.
John Waters makes nice movies. Sweet, kind-hearted, nice movies. The former "King of Puke" makes nice movies. Okay, maybe just this once, but still, I mean, this is guy who made the gross-out flick an art-house staple with technically defunct but well-intentioned films like Pink Flamingos, Polyester, and Eat Your Make-up, among many others, and now he’s making nice movies. A nice movie about a nice boy, Pecker (Ed Furlong), who’s from Baltimore and who likes to take pictures of his nice family(Mark Joy, Mary Kay Place, Martha Plimpton, and more) and basically harmless but not actually nice, but still sweet, best friend and girlfriend (Brendan Sexton III & Christina Ricci, respectively). He leads a simple life until he is discovered by some a definitely un-nice chick from New York (Lili Taylor) who wants to make him the next big thing in photography, which she does. With his booming career comes many consequences, though, as his fame begins to affect his friends and family, in their lives and their passions, which range from shoplifting and laundry to the Virgin Mary and "tea-bagging" (go see the movie if you’re confused). What will our young , oddly named hero do?
Eddie Furlong doesn’t suck anymore, as he did circa. T2, but he is just a nice boy in this, and he does nice nicely. Brendan Sexton III is a highlight, although he pulls all the stops he’s pulled in everything mildly comedic he’s been, but hey, who cares. Christina Ricci does her mildly to fully irked thing, and gets some funny lines, and hey, she’s ubiqutous for a reason, and she’s not physically perfect, which is a welcome change. Lili Taylor plays Lili Taylor, essentially, with all the familiar breathy pauses and stares. Everyone else is fine – they do their job, with mild to hot sauce versions of ham. Pecker’s grandmother (Jean Schertler) and his younger sister (Lauren Hulsey) both deliver obsessive performances that can truly be dubbed "delightful." The film’s look is typical Waters, pretty slipshod, but it’s about the characters and content anyway, so who cares? The soundtrack is pretty tight, with cool old stuff by people I don’t know. Gosh, it’s just all so nice.
Okay, maybe I should give the film some credit on the not so nice front. It’s not nice in a Disney way, unless you’ve happened upon a Disney flick with "trade" dancers in a gay bar, butch lesbian strippers, manifestations of the Virgin Mary, "pit beef" roadside stands, close-ups on pubic hair, or, horror of horrors, Baltimore. That said, do not be afraid. If you like nice movies, join Pecker on his quest for artistic integrity. If you like John Waters’ movies, go see and hunger for Pit Beef and bush. this from Brendon
