Dummy

Steven Schoichet is a thirty-year-old man living in New Jersey with his eccentric family, still sleeping in his childhood room after losing his office job. His father spends his days building model ships, his mother pushes her homemade sandwiches on everyone, and his sister works as a chaotic wedding planner. Shy and uncertain about his future, Steven buys a ventriloquist's dummy, and the wooden figure soon becomes a way for him to express the thoughts and feelings he has never been able to voice aloud. Through the dummy he begins performing, which brings him into contact with Lorena, a woman from the unemployment office, though his family's reactions and the attentions of his awkward friend Fanny complicate both his budding career and his romantic hopes.

Greg Pritikin wrote and directed this 2002 release, the first of the two features he has directed, followed by The Mistress in 2023. Adrien Brody plays Steven, with Milla Jovovich as Fanny, Illeana Douglas as his sister Heidi, Vera Farmiga as Lorena, and Jessica Walter and Ron Leibman as his parents. The film runs 91 minutes and blends comedy, drama and romance.

Audience response has been modest: on TMDB it holds a rating of 5.9 out of 10 from 97 votes, suggesting a small viewership and a mixed reception rather than a widely embraced comedy.