Review of Pecker (2010) by Phil T — 23 Feb 2009

My introduction in to the â??bad taste nightâ?? began with this wonderfully eclectic film starring a fairly blasé Edward Furlong (remember him?). Iâ??m told the the director of this film has gone down in history as a bit of a legend in bad taste circles, with previous efforts made for the sole purpose of shocking and disgusting the viewer. If true then he must have been having an off day when he made this cos in all honesty, barring being slightly mad, it was a bit of a chuckle.

With a transitioning Christina Ricci along for the ride (man she blossomed rather well�.ahem�) Pecker tells the story (some might say fairytale) of a local lad (Furlong) who takes pictures of almost everything he sees seeing the inherent beauty in anything from a fat lass on a bench to 2 rats humping. Then during a exhibition held at his café workplace Pecker gets spotted by a New York big wig who naturally buys one of his photos for lots of money. This begins a spiral as he becomes more and more nationally reknowned, where every aspect of life that Pecker had enjoyed before is suddenly tarnished, sucking the enjoyment out of something which before was just a hobby, as well as affecting the lives of his family and subjects. .

In essence itâ??s a morality tale mixed in with some rather loopy characters (Peckers Grandmother being a certain highlight), and some baffling set pieces.

Furlong looks like hes been told to look permanently constipated (either that or he was on something) and Christina Ricci looks forever confused. Theres a nice turn from xxxxx as Peckers sister and the rest are just along for the ride.

The fact is while this might be an eclectic movie it has a simple story and a simple message. Its been done a thousand times before so you know where its going but that makes it no less worth a watch. Worth a punt if you want something out of left field.