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Pecker

1998

John Waters

Edward Furlong, Christina Ricci, Mary Kay Place, Martha Plimpton ...

6.2

2,762

Comedy Writer-director Waters returns to his subversive comedic grabbag for Pecker, a restrained though amusing comedy which combines the director's penchant for shock comedy and a more accessible filmmaking style he honed after Hairspray. Set in Baltimore (where else?), the story follows the rise of young Pecker (Furlong), a fledgling photographer whose pictures of his slightly dysfunctional family and working-class neighborhood capture the ... [+]

	Media	Author	Review
		Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"A simple casting switch, making Ricci the photographer and Furlong the boyfriend, might have improved the movie considerably (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 4)"
		Angie Errigo Empire	"[Waters's] unique vision as a committed artist and unrepentantly crude joker makes this sweet, disarming, intelligent fun (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"
		Peter Stack SFGATE	"The film is never truly funny, but it's an amusing novelty, gaining strength from smart characterizations and sly cogency about the way people are exploited under the limelight of celebrity"
		Stephen Hunter The Washington Post	"[It] works more as an essay than as a story. Frequently funny, just as frequently repulsive, it's filmed in Waters's trademark deadpan style that some adore and some loathe."
		Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader	"Always a better writer than director, Waters makes me laugh even when he's dawdling"
		Emanuel Levy Variety	"A pleasant but ephemeral spoof that may disappoint Waters’ hardcore fans while not recruiting many new devotees."
		Janet Maslin The New York Times	"Mr. Waters himself is the best evidence that it's possible to wow the pretentious without sacrificing a Pecker-like esthetic at all."
		Marjorie Baumgarten Austin Chronicle	"Though they all have too little to do, some of the characters in 'Pecker' are great (...) As a whole, 'Pecker' is enjoyable but also feels scattered and transitory (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"

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