PUMPKIN
"To believe that the disabled possess a special soulfulness is not
to affirm their humanity, but to deny it...'Pumpkin' can't decide
whether it wants to make fun of Carolyn's romanticism or endorse it,
and attempts to overcome its ambivalence by winking while it is trying
to elicit tears. It sometimes succeeds at both, which leaves you with
the strange feeling of being laughed at by the same people who are
doing everything they can to make you cry." --A. O. Scott, The New
York Times
"I laughed harder at 'Pumpkin' than at any other film I've seen this
year--but be warned: This dark campus comedy is not for all tastes,
or probably even most tastes...will no doubt make many people uncomfortable--but
its full frontal assault on political correctness had me in stitches."
--Lou Lumenick, The New York Post
"Under the heading 'What were they thinking?' comes 'Pumpkin,' a witless,
insulting satire of sorority girls that shamelessly ridicules the
mentally challenged. The filmmakers aren't exactly Mensa candidates
themselves...If having sex really adds IQ points, the world would
surely have been a smarter place by now." --Jami Bernard, The New
York Daily News
"'Pumpkin' means to be an outrageous dark satire on fraternity life,
but its ambitions far exceed the abilities of writer Adam Larson Broder
and his co-director, Tony R. Abrams...In the old Hollywood tradition,
Pumpkin's affliction is vague in the extreme. He may or may not be
mentally retarded, and he seems to have a mild case of cerebral palsy
that by the time the film is over has been reduced to little more
than a limp...There may be a valid premise for both comedy and drama
here, but despite a game and wide-ranging portrayal by Ricci, it is
not developed in consistently credible fashion." --Kevin Thomas, The
Los Angeles Times
"Co-directors Adam Larson Broder and Tony R. Abrams satirize the condescension
that chokes media depictions of the disabled, except when it's more
convenient to indulge in those same suspect clichE`s...In its own dimly
reckless way, the film is riveting--not unlike watching a tightrope
walker with a bad case of vertigo." --Dennis Lim, The Village Voice
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