Diagonaldi Very well executed

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

moonspinner55 The uninhibited photographs of a young shutterbug in Baltimore are discovered by an art dealer from New York City, who turns the kid into a reluctant celebrity. By now, we know what to expect with a John Waters comedy: colorfully outré characters with quirky jobs whose lives are underscored with rude, snorting satire and odd, funny selections on the soundtrack. Edward Furlong is confidently goofy in the leading role of Pecker (so-called because of his boyhood tendency to pick at his food), but many of the other performances are stiff or awkward. Waters is an idea-man; he sets up potentially raucous running jokes and populates his scenario with wild caricatures (like lesbian strippers), yet he's still having trouble getting those ideas onto the screen. His timing is so wobbly that many scenes border on being funny but ultimately miss the mark, while certain characters (like Pecker's bartender sister and his religious ventriloquist Memama) keep promising to be funnier than they are. Of course, writer-director Waters is an acquired taste--some will find his prankish sense of humor naughty and winking, while others will balk early--yet he's in danger of repeating himself. The Baltimore milieu might be played out for him--although, when Waters ventures into New York high society, he doesn't seem comfortable there at all. Like many of his recent films, the final act is just a hammy mess of over-playing, while the satirical points Waters hopes to make get lost in a deluge of happy-hearted sleaze. *1/2 from ****

Jimrsjdm The best thing about this movie is that it is fun. It is full of humorous characters and interesting situations, starting with the blithe, innocent Pecker (played appealingly by Edward Furlong) who likes to photograph almost everything he sees in every day life. Other great characters include Pecker's friend Matt ("he's a thief, but he's really a nice guy"), Pecker's sister Chrissy (who is addicted to sugar), and Pecker's Catholic grandmother who discovers life in a statuette of the Virgin Mary in her room.The movie gently makes a point about how every day life has many riches to offer, and it succeeds in making this point without being too heavy-handed about it. There is always a risk, when making messages about the value and dignity of "common people", of sliding into a kind of reverse "holier than thou" - but "Pecker" avoids these traps, allowing the audience to get the point while allowing enough breathing room for viewers to compare this message to their own thoughts on the subject.I recommend the movie mostly because it is a lot of fun.

paul_mampilly This movie is one of those which I saw by pure chance. We have all seen one of these before, whether flicking through the channels through insomnia, or through plain boredom and seem to catch the first five minutes of the film. So I could not get any sleep, since my circadian rhythms is gone to pot, and the TV was my only source of entertainment of that day, due to the lack of motivation of going out and money I have. What can i say, I am a university student? Watch out for Spoilers.The main character Pecker, is a amateur shutterbug, who would take any pictures of his humdrum but quirky life. He takes pictures of his bizarre family, which would consist of a ADHD little sister, a female sibling who is an MC for a gay strip club, a grandma who is seems to hear the Virgin Mary speak to her, even though it is her who provides the voice for her, a philantrophic mother and a father who wants to boycott the lesbian strip club next door to his bar. The little world that he lives in gets the camera treatment and the local people get involved as well. Pecker decides to hold his photographs on show in his work place, whereby a high profile art collector sees his work and absolutely loves it. This is where the roller-coaster of Pecker's life begins. The art collector begins to show Pecker's work in the big art galleries, and he is a darling in the modern art scene, to the dismay and disgust of his townsfolk.The story is pretty basic with some gaping plot holes and a pretty easy ending to tie it up. However it is not the plot which gives it the enjoyment, but the characters and the predicaments that occur with them. I think Edward Furlong is perfect as the main character, however this is not a career defining movie for him, but somehow he did enjoy it. The indie darling Christina Ricci did not have enough to play on this role of Pecker's annoyed girlfriend, but she did what she could. The other characters were a little bit bizarre but seemed to fit into the movie quite well. Though there is one character I liked a lot, which was little Chrissy. She may have had probably one of the funniest scenes in the movie, where she is off the sugar and chocolate and onto the vegetables. She just snorts a piece of vegetable. That got me in stitches that no one can imagine.In conclusion, I think this movie does have to get some recommendation for at least trying hard to be funny, and the characters are quite amicable. However I wish they did not have a really fluffy ending. That was a let down.

The_Void 'Pecker' is one of those films that you watch when you've got nothing better to do. However, unlike many of those films, Pecker is one that almost makes you glad that you had nothing better to do as if you had, you wouldn't have seen it. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather have been at lottery HQ collecting my winnings, on the phone to a representative from my local pub telling me that I've won free beer for life or even simply enjoying a night in with several top supermodels; but on the whole, I rate the eighty five minutes I spent watching this as time well spent. The film is called 'Pecker' because that's the name of it's central character, but something tells me that Mr John Waters named the film so for other, more innuendo related, reasons. Anyway, Pecker is a rather odd young man who lives in a rather odd small town somewhere in America. Pecker's hobby is to take photos of anything and everything, and claim that it's art. This hobby, one day, attracts the attention of a New York art dealer and Pecker is transported into super-stardom, much to the dismay of his Laundromat obsessed girlfriend and the rest of his small town.Director John Waters directs the film in a very surreal style, which gives it a very unique edge, and instantly grabs your attention. Waters evidently doesn't care about the integrity of film-making, and so sees fit to meld together something that can easily be seen as a mess. The leads carry Waters' mess with vigour and gusto, but never really impress or deliver great performances. Edward Furlong gives his character a naive edge, which bodes well with his small town roots. He does look more than a little bit embarrassed at times, but sort of adds to the kitsch appeal of the movie. Christina Ricci does her usual 'bitch' thing, but it doesn't work in this film as her character is supposed to be a more down to earth and snob hating, so to have her as a snob herself ensures that the film loses yet more credibility and makes it even more of a mess. The film will offend some viewers for it's rather graphic lesbian strip club scene; not to mention it's central, gay club, location, and that adds weight to the idea that this is very much a 'love it or hate it' sort of film, and I'm sure that's how Waters wants it. I, however, do not add weight to that claim as I merely thought it was 'pretty good'. Take that John!