Mannequin Reviews

A lifeless and sophomoric attempt at romantic comedy that draws on the fantasy films of old Hollywood but fails miserably. The picture opens in ancient Egypt where we see a young Egyptian woman (Kim Cattrall) who refuses to be married off to a camel-dung dealer and begs the gods to take her away. The scene then switches to modern-day Philadelphia where Jonathan Switcher (Andrew McCarthy), a former mannequin sculptor, is working in the stockroom of a department store that is being driven into bankruptcy by a rival store. One evening, one of the mannequins in the store (Cattrell), made by Jonathan, magically comes to life. She can only be seen by him, however, suddenly reverting into a mannequin if anyone enters the room. She gives Jonathan the artistic confidence he needs to become a top window dresser and revitalize the store. But the rival keeps scheming. MANNEQUIN is one of those films that puts the entire Hollywood system back into perspective. Just when you thought the public had begun to care about intelligent films again, this moronic entry comes along and grosses $24 million in a month. It's not that MANNEQUIN is particularly offensive--it's just lifeless. It has no more depth of character than one would expect from a television commercial and is about as engaging. MANNEQUIN is an empty-headed effort that wastes the considerable talents of both McCarthy and Cattrall. Nominated by the Academy for Best Song ("Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now").