All of the most annoying elements of independent cinema are on full display in Good Dick, a painfully awkward attempt at...well, I'm not sure what exactly.
Good Dick (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:37
Fresh:18
Rotten:19
Average Rating:5.2/10
Consensus: Marianna Palka's quirky indie debut centred on two dysfunctional loners is hit and miss, but has enough originality to see it through.
Theatrical Release:Oct 10, 2008 Limited
Synopsis: Good Dick is a truly original love story. It is also quite funny and a joy to watch. When Anna slinks into an independent video store to check out the latest in erotic offerings, she catches the... Good Dick is a truly original love story. It is also quite funny and a joy to watch. When Anna slinks into an independent video store to check out the latest in erotic offerings, she catches the eye of one of the clerks. He takes it upon himself to break down her emotional barriers and launches on a quest to make her fall in love with him. From the beginning, we see this is not going to be an easy task. Marianna Palka is the tour de force writer, director, and actor behind Good Dick. She surrounds herself with an ensemble of great, young character actors, most notably Jason Ritter, who masters the daunting task of making a total loser (and part-time stalker) into one of the most lovable and eccentric characters in indie film. Deadpan as Anna, Palka is the perfect foil to his persistent come-ons, blatantly rejecting him at every turn. In this exceptionally well-written film, their tortured encounters transition from a bizarre standoff to...well, what they end up with. Like classic Woody Allen, Palka has an uncanny knack for understanding the complex give and take of human interaction and the sometimes painful motivations behind them. In Good Dick, the whole notion of “romance” is turned on its head and refashioned into a more modern—if not more offbeat—image. --© Sundance Film Festival [More]
Starring: Jason Ritter, Marianna Palka, Eric Edelstein, Martin Starr
Starring: Jason Ritter, Marianna Palka, Eric Edelstein, Martin Starr, Mark Webber, Tom Arnold
Director: Marianna Palka
Director: Marianna Palka
Screenwriter: Marianna Palka
Producer: Jennifer Dubin, Cora Olson, Marianna Palka, Jason Ritter
Composer: Jared Nelson Smith
Studio: Good Dick LLC
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Reviews for Good Dick
In spite of a title, and much dialogue, likely to send Aunt Edna into convulsions, Good Dick is the week’s best film.
Another indie that wears its quirks and gritty "realism" a little too proudly.
If peeking in on these two characters' most deep-seated dysfunctions might seem as intrusive as stalking and as exploitative as scopophilia, then Palka is at pains to expose the all too human yearnings that underlie both activities.
Dysfunction beguiles in Good Dick, a perverse romantic comedy whose coarse title belies its tender heart.
Nearly blindsides us with moments of such genuine thoughtfulness and surprises that wouldn't be out-of-place in a script by Cameron Crowe or Richard Curtis.
Good Dick carries its messed-up, highly improbable premise so lightly and gracefully that it ultimately comes off as a sweet, plausible and curiously grounded love story.
The film wears its arthouse aspirations all over the shelves. But the romance between Jason Ritter’s shy Romeo and Palka’s sullen loner is a morbidly peculiar stretch.
The characters are sharp and their dilemmas feel honest, even if we never get all the information we crave.
Marianne Palka's comedy, which she wrote and stars in, lacks the script, acting and the laughs to rise in the marketplace above similar Sundance-style fare, despite the sado-masochistic streak.
Despite an ambitiously dark premise, the writing isn't sharp enough despite a leavening courtesy of sub-High Fidelity-style joshing among the video geeks.
Ultimately, the body part that gets the most play is the mouth, with the hyphenate and her personal-professional partner Ritter trading the sort of sub-Cassavetes banter that screams self-written acting exercises.
In another movie, the boy who pursues this girl would be a serial killer.
Marianna Palka's debut feature is a quirky, slight, self-absorbed study of romantic loners reaching out to one another in low-rent Los Angeles.
Alternately compelling and dramatically limp, the film scores points for exploring unfamiliar territory but lacks the emotional depth to make some very strange behavior believable.
Unfortunately, Good Dick is all high-wire act, determinedly thwarting the expectations of its genre but unable to present a wholly successful alternative to romcom conventionality.
The Kevin Smith-esque dude banter might place Dick in a US indie tradition, but there’s also an honesty to the script and performances that’s genuinely original and touching.
One of the weakest competition entries at Sundance Fest this year, this pseudo romantic-erotic feature promises more than it can deliver, and after a cute beginning falls apart.
Latest News for Good Dick
October 12, 2008:
Trailer & Poster review ![]()
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October 09, 2008:
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