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List Price: $14.98 | | Label: New Line Home Video
Salesrank: 12666
Released: February 23, 1999 |
| Our Price: $1.99 |
| Used Price: $1.98 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Meet a fun-loving kid fromt he wrong side of the tracks who picks up a second-hand camera and starts snapping his way to stardom. Fame is both instant and disappointing forcing pecker to realize that when life stinks the least you can do is get it on film. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 05/10/2005 Starring: Edward Furlong Martha Plimpton Run time: 87 minutes Rating: R Director: John Waters
Description of Pecker:
Pecker (so named, at least according to his grandmother, because he always pecks at his food) loves to use the camera to capture his fellow Baltimore residents living their daily lives. Of course, since this is a John Waters movie, those daily lives include visits to strip bars, shoplifting, and various other quirky, and frequently hilarious, human activities. When Pecker's makeshift photo exhibit comes to the attention of a New York art agent (Lili Taylor), Pecker becomes the latest sensation. Unlike the hero in most sudden-fame stories, however, Pecker, as played by Edward Furlong, isn't exactly an innocent; rather, he takes in the world with his eyes, and his mind, wide open. So instead of suffering a precipitous fall, Pecker eventually turns the tables on his more worldly New York peers.
While not as outrageous as early Waters features such as Female Trouble and Pink Flamingos, Pecker still has something to offend just about everyone. But those who take the offenses to heart would be missing out on what amounts to a sweet-natured farce. The movie is not so much a pointed satire as a gentle teasing of the art world and its pretensions. The all-embracing world of John Waters allows for lovable freaks from the big city, too.
The movie sags a bit when it settles into its plot; it can't sustain the comic inspiration reached in the opening scenes of Pecker's encounters with Baltimore's misfits. But running gags about a sugar-addicted child and a ventriloquist-doll Virgin Mary are hilarious. What ultimately makes the movie such a pleasure, though, is Waters's genuine fondness for all of his characters. Aided by a charming cast, including Christina Ricci and Waters regulars Mink Stole and Patty Hearst, Waters has created a surprisingly touching ode to human eccentricity. --Chris Neman
Pecker Reviews:
Typically bizarre world-view, courtesy of director John Waters 
2009-10-28 - PECKER
(USA - 1998)
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Theatrical soundtrack: Dolby Digital
The life of an aspiring Baltimore photographer (Edward Furlong) is turned upside down when his neighborhood snap-shots are embraced by the New York Art-set.
John Waters takes a satirical swipe at the bubble-headed Art world in this low-profile entry, which adheres closely to the template established in his earlier 'mainstream' works (HAIRSPRAY, CRY-BABY, etc.). Waters' own screenplay includes a wide assortment of eccentric characters, engaged in an uneasy truce with conservative doomsayers who cluck loudly from the sidelines, and he paints the mix in vivid colors, providing a unique visual backdrop for cartoon-like performances which teeter precariously on the brink of caricature.
Furlong and co-star Christina Ricci are blank but charming, an 'ordinary' couple who retreat into anonymity as their lives are consumed by the demands of those around them: Furlong's naive parents (Mary Kay Place and Mark Joy), fag-hag sister (Martha Plimpton), sugar-addicted brat sibling (Lauren Hulsey), and the Art crowd who live in their own little world, far removed from everyday reality (their reaction when forced to travel from New York to Baltimore is priceless!). Amusing rather than laugh out loud funny, the movie will divide viewers from the outset; die-hard fans of this director's worldview, however, will be bowled over by his daring.
Peck peck Pecker 
2009-05-13 - I love John Water's and pretty much anything he does. Pecker is just another one of his sick little masterpieces...Its funny, and touching. Its one of my favorites. but i think you'll have to be a Water's fan to really enjoy this movie.
Photograph Everything! 
2008-10-30 - Pecker is a film about a young man who is a photographer. He takes photos of everything. His photos are noticed in a makeshift photo gallery by someone important in the industry. The humor in this film is great its funny without being over-the-top like say maybe Will Ferrel's or Jim Carey's stuff. Edward Furlong is great in this one, as is Christina Rici. A very easy to watch film.
John waters down his earlier work in a futile attempt to make it more palatable 
2008-07-04 - Pecker (Edward Furlong) is a naive artist who likes to take pictures of his family and friends in Baltimore. His name is derived from the fact that as a child he pecked at his food. He works at a sandwich shop, and is excited about having his first exhibition. It is a very amateur affair, but through some fluke he is discovered. Pecker's out-of-focus snapshots are being compared to Diane Arbus, but with empathy, and his work is sought by the New York Art Elite. Gallery owner Rorey Wheeler (Lili Taylor) is especially taken with the new artiste on the block, and attempts to lure him from his girlfriend, Shelley (Christina Ricci), who is too busy enforcing nazi-like rules at her laundrymat to notice at first.
Film maker John Waters (Pink Flamingoes, Hairspray, Polyester, Cry Baby, etc.) takes aim at New York elitists (he is from Baltimore), art snobs, censorship, and the unintended consequences of fame on an artist and their friends and relations (who might serve as raw material or inspiration); but unfortunately, nothing sticks. Best moment was at Pecker's 2nd exhibition when he temporarity turns the tables on the art snobs, who cry out "Here's to the end of Irony!" before realising the show is mocking them. Or did I dream that? I borrowed Pecker from the local library and had to return it before I could watch a second time to verify. Waters' film, Pecker is really just a gallery of grotesques, but without the empathy of a Diane Arbus.
Furlong and Ricci are two prime examples of child actors who met with early success, but while Furlong may have been jinxed, possibly by Pecker, Ricci seems able to bounce freely between family fare (Casper, That Darn Cat, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Speed Racer) and edgier fare (The Opposite of Sex, The Ice Storm, Black Snake Moan, Prozac Nation, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas)--sometimes even within the same film (Little Red Riding Hood, The Addams Family, Addams Family Values).
Films of Edward Furlong
Detroit Rock City (New Line Platinum Series) (1999) .... Hawk is trying to scam his way into a KISS concert. All that street cred down the tubes.
American History X (1998) .... Danny Vinyard is the younger brother of Edward Norton's white supremist--who tries to stop him from following his racist ways.
The Grass Harp (1995) .... Furlong plays Collin Fenwick in this movie based on a novel by Truman Capote.
American Heart (1992) .... Nick Kelson is the son of an alchoholic drug addict who is trying to straighten out. Jeff Bridges plays the father, so Furlong is now officially Dude, Jr.
Terminator 2 - Judgment Day (The Ultimate Edition DVD) (1991) .... John Connor is the whole pivot on which the plot turns. Quite an auspicious debut, and it can't hurt to know the Governator.
Films of Christina Ricci
Black Snake Moan (2006) .... Rae is played by Ricci in the other movie about snakes starring Samuel L. Jackson besides Snakes on a Plane.
The Opposite of Sex (1998) .... Ricci is at it again as Dede Truitt, stirring up more trouble.
The Ice Storm (1997) .... As Wendy Hood Ricci seduces not one but two brothers, but it is the Nixon mask that still gives me nightmares.
The Addams Family / Addams Family Values (1991) .... Wednesday Addams
Mermaids (1990) .... Ricci's Kate Flax is the little sister of Winona Ryder and the daughter of Cher. Quite an auspicious debut. Call Jean Keane to paint her portrait. Ooops, she already did.
Memama: Sometimes there's things more important than pit beef.
WITH A NAME LIKE PECKER..........................!
2008-02-27 - I don't know why I like these types of film so much, maybe because the stories are not stamped out of a production assembly line. 'Pecker' is a smart and funny film with a good cast and lots of quirky characters. I did think it strange that they portrayed Baltimore locals as a bunch of whackos but, the film is very good and carries a good message. I caught this on cable so, if you see it on TV....check it out. I rate it 3 3/4 stars.
