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Good Dick

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Good Dick (2008)

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Reviews Counted:37

Fresh:18

Rotten:19

Average Rating:5.2/10

Consensus: Marianna Palka's quirky indie debut centred on two dysfunctional loners is hit and miss, but has enough originality to see it through.

Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for sexual content and language.

Runtime: 86 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:03-10-2008

Synopsis: Good Dick is a truly original love story. It is also quite funny and a joy to watch. When Anna slinks into an independent video store to check out the latest in erotic offerings, she catches the... Good Dick is a truly original love story. It is also quite funny and a joy to watch. When Anna slinks into an independent video store to check out the latest in erotic offerings, she catches the eye of one of the clerks. He takes it upon himself to break down her emotional barriers and launches on a quest to make her fall in love with him. From the beginning, we see this is not going to be an easy task. Marianna Palka is the tour de force writer, director, and actor behind Good Dick. She surrounds herself with an ensemble of great, young character actors, most notably Jason Ritter, who masters the daunting task of making a total loser (and part-time stalker) into one of the most lovable and eccentric characters in indie film. Deadpan as Anna, Palka is the perfect foil to his persistent come-ons, blatantly rejecting him at every turn. In this exceptionally well-written film, their tortured encounters transition from a bizarre standoff to...well, what they end up with. Like classic Woody Allen, Palka has an uncanny knack for understanding the complex give and take of human interaction and the sometimes painful motivations behind them. In Good Dick, the whole notion of “romance” is turned on its head and refashioned into a more modern—if not more offbeat—image. --© Sundance Film Festival [More]

Starring: Jason Ritter, Marianna Palka, Eric Edelstein, Martin Starr

Starring: Jason Ritter, Marianna Palka, Eric Edelstein, Martin Starr, Mark Webber, Tom Arnold

Director: Marianna Palka

Director: Marianna Palka
Screenwriter: Marianna Palka
Producer: Jennifer Dubin, Cora Olson, Marianna Palka, Jason Ritter
Composer: Jared Nelson Smith
Studio: Good Dick LLC

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Good Dick

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1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; UK critics are listed first)
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This entertains enough to get by, marking Palka and Ritter as talents to watch.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
10/03/08
Anna Smith
Anna Smith
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Good Dick’ is enjoyable as a cute, playful indie – it’s just not as perceptive about female psychology as it sets out to be.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
10/03/08
Anna Smith
Anna Smith
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The Kevin Smith-esque dude banter might place Dick in a US indie tradition, but there’s also an honesty to the script and performances that’s genuinely original and touching.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
10/03/08
Ellen E Jones
Ellen E Jones
Total Film

A well-meaning comedy that undoes all its good work in the final act, Good Dick would've been better served with further development in the Sundance Lab. That said, Jason Ritter delivers a breakthrough performance that saves the film.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
10/03/08
James Mottram
James Mottram
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Delightfully offbeat indie romcom with impressive direction, strong performances and a superbly written script that's by turns creepy, funny, weird and ultimately moving.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
10/02/08
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

In spite of a title, and much dialogue, likely to send Aunt Edna into convulsions, Good Dick is the week’s best film.

Full Review Source: Financial Times | comment Comment
10/03/08
Nigel Andrews
Nigel Andrews
Financial Times

The characters are sharp and their dilemmas feel honest, even if we never get all the information we crave.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
10/03/08
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

Palka has created two very troubled, comic people who find links through kinks. Takes all sorts.

Full Review Source: Teletext | comment Comment
10/02/08
Victor Olliver
Victor Olliver
Teletext

Marianna Palka's debut feature is a quirky, slight, self-absorbed study of romantic loners reaching out to one another in low-rent Los Angeles.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
10/03/08
Andy Gill
Andy Gill
Independent

Marianne Palka's comedy, which she wrote and stars in, lacks the script, acting and the laughs to rise in the marketplace above similar Sundance-style fare, despite the sado-masochistic streak.

Full Review Source: Screen International | comment Comment
10/18/08
David D'Arcy
David D'Arcy
Screen International

Things happen eventually but we never really know what ails her or why the boy is so taken by her mute presence.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
10/03/08
Derek Malcolm
Derek Malcolm
This is London

The film wears its arthouse aspirations all over the shelves. But the romance between Jason Ritter’s shy Romeo and Palka’s sullen loner is a morbidly peculiar stretch.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
10/03/08
James Christopher
James Christopher
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Widely liked, but it passed me by.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
10/03/08
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Despite an ambitiously dark premise, the writing isn't sharp enough despite a leavening courtesy of sub-High Fidelity-style joshing among the video geeks.

Full Review Source: Sky Movies | comment Comment
10/03/08
Tim Evans
Tim Evans
Sky Movies

Despite dealing with some very heavy issues Palka has a surprisingly light touch, levening the more bleak moments with some rich, dark comedy.

Full Review Source: Eye for Film | comment Comment
06/13/08
Amber Wilkinson
Amber Wilkinson
Eye for Film

If peeking in on these two characters' most deep-seated dysfunctions might seem as intrusive as stalking and as exploitative as scopophilia, then Palka is at pains to expose the all too human yearnings that underlie both activities.

Full Review Source: musicOMH.com | comment Comment
08/12/08
Anton Bitel
Anton Bitel
musicOMH.com

Good Dick carries its messed-up, highly improbable premise so lightly and gracefully that it ultimately comes off as a sweet, plausible and curiously grounded love story.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
10/10/08
Carina Chocano
Carina Chocano
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Nearly blindsides us with moments of such genuine thoughtfulness and surprises that wouldn't be out-of-place in a script by Cameron Crowe or Richard Curtis.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
01/26/08
Erik Childress
Erik Childress
eFilmCritic.com

Dysfunction beguiles in Good Dick, a perverse romantic comedy whose coarse title belies its tender heart.

comment Comment
10/17/08
Jeannette Catsoulis
Jeannette Catsoulis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

...a lot more poignant than most of Hollywood's big-budget, star-studded takes on the subject.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
09/07/09
John J. Puccio
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; UK critics are listed first)
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