Film Feedback
New This WeekAround TownMusicFilmArtTheaterNews & FeaturesFood & DrinkAstrology
  HOME
NEW THIS WEEK
EDITORS' PICKS
LISTINGS
NEWS & FEATURES
MUSIC
FILM
ART
BOOKS
THEATER
DANCE
TELEVISION
FOOD & DRINK
ARCHIVES
LETTERS
PERSONALS
CLASSIFIEDS
ADULT
ASTROLOGY
PHOENIX FORUM DOWNLOAD MP3s

  E-Mail This Article to a Friend
PUMPKIN

In this quirky black comedy, peroxide-dyed Christina Ricci plays Carolyn McDuffy, the happy-nice zealot of the Alpha Omega Pi sorority. She’s got a hunky boyfriend (Sam Ball) and a gaggle of "great" friends, and everything else is peachy, except that AOP has yet to win the Sorority of the Year award. To do so, the AOPs set out to recruit a diverse sisterhood, and for a charity project they decide to mentor challenged athletes. One such athlete happens to be the wheelchair-bound character of the title (a gangly Hank Harris), who after one look at Carolyn’s assets falls in love, or at least lust. She too feels the romantic pull. What ensues is a taboo sexual coupling and a series of dysfunctional life lessons — think of it as Legally Blonde meets Harold and Maude.

Written by Adam Larson Broder, who also directs with Tony Abrams, this is a gonzo, good-taste/bad-taste romp that has all the trappings of a classic John Waters film, though none of its poignancy. Ricci ambles along convincingly as the confused, impromptu vixen inadvertently causing misery while trying to please all. Her best moments come when she confronts the hypocritical rants of her anti-establishment poetry professor (Harry J. Lennix). (113 minutes)

BY TOM MEEK

Issue Date: July 4 - 11, 2002
Back to the Movies table of contents.
  E-Mail This Article to a Friend

home | feedback | about the phoenix | find the phoenix | advertising info | privacy policy | the masthead | work for us

 © 2002 Phoenix Media Communications Group