Mannequin

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After an altercation with a department store sign, the young “Jonathan” (Andrew McCarthy) saves the day and gets himself a job from it’s owner (Estelle Getty). This is much to the chagrin of the shop’s boss “Richards” (James Spader) especially when he starts to make a great impression on the public with his window displays. For that skill, he must thank an ancient Egyptian who has materialised several thousand years after having had a row with her mother in an Edfu temple. She (Kim Cattrall) is a lively and bubbly lass, but she is only animate when they are alone. Otherwise, well she’s the mannequin. What they don’t know is that “Richards” is a duplicitous son-of-gun and is in league with a rival store owner to force them out of business and pick up the place for ten cents on the dollar. Can his window-dressing generate enough new business to save the place before his secret is discovered, or before he is carted off to the asylum for his fetishist behaviour with a life sized plastic doll? McCarthy was probably my favourite of the “Brat Pack” and he brings a cheeky enthusiasm to this rather flat and predicable, almost slapstick, comedy that sees him and Cattrall gel quite amiably. Spader, on the other hand, is just plain terrible and but for a few typically feisty appearances from Getty, so is just about everyone else in this cheesy rom-com. It’s only really memorable for the “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” closing theme from “Starship” and for a scene with some furs in the shop window but that’s about the height of it. The originality and popularity of this genre was very much on the wain by now, and this is probably the most throwaway of all of them, but if you are of a certain age it still raises a nostalgic smile.

Looking in your eyes I see a paradise. Mannequin is either a sweet affectionate nostalgia movie – or an empty vacuous experience that fronts the bad side of 1980s American film making? Of all the teen comedies and brat packer pictures that flooded the decade, Mannequin appears to be the one that has no in between fan base, you either love it for what it is, or despise it and everything it stands for. So how do you review something like that? I mean if you have seen it already and are reading this, you don’t need any guidance from me. Your minds are already made up, if you have not seen it and have any interest in the 1980s strand of such fare, then give it a go. It’s hardly an abomination, while for fans of Kim Cattrall and Andrew McCarthy it has to be worth a watch to see them try to cope with such under written lead characters. It’s frothy and cheerful, but yes, devoid of substance, while one stereotype coupled with James Spader’s worst performance hardly help matters these days. Soundtracking is decent enough, led by power pop ballad Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now sung by Starship, while the costuming is garishly period. Not to be taken seriously, obviously, and it has flaws galore, but it does have fans. Who knows, you may become one as well? Or you may want to stick sharp implements in your eyes instead? Roll the dice and take the chance. 5/10

<em>'Mannequin'</em> is pure cheese and very silly, but I can't deny it's a nice piece of light entertainment; it's cute, in its own way, too. Andrew McCarthy and Kim Cattrall both fit their respective roles well, so does everyone else on the cast; Meshach Taylor is the standout of the rest. There really isn't much more to say. It's a simple movie and I simply enjoyed it. Oh, and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" is a banger.