Trailer

Family, friendship and romance find a voice in Dummy, the smartly offbeat and charming debut comedy from writer and director Greg Pritikin. Steven Schoichet (Adrien Brody, Academy Award® winner for The Pianist) is browbeaten at every turn, by his family, his dead-end job, the faceless suburb where he still lives at home. That is until he decides to make a change. Ventriloquism. Hey, a dream’s a dream.

His family barely pays him enough attention to even dismiss the idea – his mother (Jessica Walter, Slums of Beverly Hills) is only concerned that he eat something, and his father (Ron Liebman, Tony Award® winner for “Angels In America”) only thinks of his model ships. Steven’s sister (Illeana Douglas, Grace of My Heart) recently broke off her engagement to an unstable accountant (Jared Harris, Happiness), which makes her career as a wedding planner an emotional minefield. His only supporter is neighbor Fangora (Milla Jovovich, Resident Evil) – really it’s Fanny, but that’s not very punk – who has her own aspirations to stardom.

After Steven loses his job, things actually start to turn around. He falls for his counselor at the unemployment office (Vera Farmiga, Fifteen Minutes), and through the best efforts of Steven and the little friend on his knee, good things start to happen for everyone around him. A restraining order leads to new love, a rock band learns Yiddish, and everything clicks into place at somebody else’s wedding. Funny, winsome, quick-witted, and brave – this Dummy is pretty sharp.