Movie Review Pumpkin

Pumpkin (2002) 

Directed by Anthony Abrams, Adam Larson Broder 

Written by Anthony Abrams, Adam Larson Broder

Starring Christina Ricci, Dominique Swain, Marisa Coughlan

Release Date June 28th, 2002 

Published November 10th, 2002

For anyone who has never been to college or at least visited a college campus, the terms Sorority and Fraternity are likely mere pop culture. In reality, the pop culture treatment of these odd institutions does not do them justice.

Fraternities and Sororities are actually weirder than they have been portrayed. These conformity factories for the elitist culture are a strange mix of depravity and morality. They each combine odd rituals and out of control behavior with a social conscience that includes charity work. One night guys are spanking each other with a wood paddle, the next day they are picking up garbage on the side of the road.

In a Sorority, the rituals aren't as sadomasochistic in nature but just as weird with singing, chanting, dancing and other liturgy. The film Pumpkin has yet another pop culture treatment of the sorority world and its biting wit on the subject makes for one of the funniest movies of the year.

Pumpkin stars Christina Ricci as top sorority gal Carolyn McDuffy. She is the house pep leader and the model for the rushes, the girls trying to get in the sorority. Carolyn and her house leader Julie (Marisa Coughlin) are determined to win S.O.Y, Sorority of the Year. To win they have to show they can do community service so they volunteer to help "special" kids train for an athletic competition. Each member of the sorority is paired with a "special" kid and Carolyn is paired with Pumpkin (Hank Harris).

At first, we believe Pumpkin is both mentally and physically handicapped, he arrives in a wheelchair though he can walk. Pumpkin is immediately dumbstruck by Carolyn who is the most beautiful girl he's ever seen and probably the first he's ever touched. Carolyn wants only to quit her charity work and go back to important things like shopping and spending time with her vapid Ken-doll boyfriend played brilliantly by Sam Ball. 

In a scene that you're ashamed to laugh at, Carolyn attempts to teach Pumpkin how to throw the javelin as Pumpkin tries to find the words to tell Carolyn how he feels. Pumpkin's struggle for words and Carolyn’s embarrassing attempts to understand him makes for very uncomfortable humor. For Pumpkin, it's love at first sight. For Carolyn, it's something she can't comprehend. There is something in Pumpkin's eyes that she has never seen before.

Nothing about Pumpkin is simple, this strange mix of earnest romance and biting satire walks the line between good taste and offensiveness. If you are sensitive about the treatment of the handicapped, you might want to avoid this film. Pumpkin bravely wades into this thorny issue and lets loose a barrage of bad taste humor that, while funny, makes anyone watching just a little uncomfortable.

Pumpkin's shifts in tone from biting satire to earnest romance stretches credibility, leaving the audience to wonder whether to take the film seriously or not. The film wants to be edgy and satirical but also wants you to believe the romance that grows between Carolyn and Pumpkin is for real. Were it not for Ricci's skilled performance and Harris's charismatic willingness to go all the way to every extreme with Pumpkin, the whole film would likely collapse on itself.

Co-directors Anthony Abrams and Adam Larson Broder, each in their directorial debut, walk that line of credibility with bravery and sharpness. Their willingness to trust Ricci and Harris' performances and make it difficult to believe their romance is real is a decision not many directors would have the courage to do. And in the end, to send up everything the movie has built up to with one ingenious line of dialogue is truly brilliant.

What truly makes Pumpkin one of the best comedies of the year was the ability of Abrams and Broder, who also wrote the script, to create a mini-universe for these characters to exist in. By doing that they can control the context of the jokes and are free to take chances. And take chances with a bold comedy that I highly recommend.