Review of Mannequin

Introduction

Before Kim Cattrall became the 21st Century`s television sex siren in Sex and the City, she had established a glittering movie career in films like, um Star Trek 6 and er, that is, Police Academy. O.K maybe not glittering, but an eighties aficionado like myself can appreciate certain films and Kim Cattrall starred in two of my favourites. The first ever pre-recorded video I ever purchased was Turk 182 (still waiting for a DVD release guys) and I have always enjoyed Mannequin as an example of pure and cheesy eighties fun.

Emmy is an Egyptian princess with a problem. She doesn`t want to be married off to a camel dung dealer but would rather be an inventor or an explorer. Hiding from the inevitable marriage she prays for deliverance. To her surprise she gets her wish and she is sent bouncing through time. Eventually she is reincarnated 4000 years later into a shop mannequin being made by struggling artist, Jonathan Switcher. Jonathan is a passionate creative soul, whose artistic tendencies keep getting him fired. Having taken weeks to create the perfect mannequin, he finds himself discharged once more, and while looking for work he ends up at Prince & Co, where one night after a bad date he found his mannequin gracing a window display. The owner, Claire Timkin gives him a job when Jonathan saves her from a falling sign and once inside he goes looking for his perfect creation. To his surprise, one night after store closing, the mannequin comes to life, to thank him for her creation. Emmy is fascinated by the future and relishes the chance to implement her creativity, but she can only appear alive to Jonathan. The next morning, Jonathan wakes inside a window display to find an amazing artistic creation has attracted a crowd of customers. This is manna from heaven for the beleaguered Prince & Co, who have been driven to the brink of bankruptcy by the aggressive tactics of Illustra. Jonathan is immediately put to work creating more fantastic window displays, and he and Emmy spend the nights having fun and avoiding the shop security guard, Felix and his faithful watchdog, Rambo. Pretty soon, Jonathan`s strange mannequin peccadillo combined with his successful window displays draw the attention of Illustra, who are suffering a downturn in their profits. When their attempt to poach Jonathan fails, they resort to criminal tactics to sabotage Prince & Co, including stealing all the mannequins.

Video

This is an MGM back catalogue title from the mid eighties, so they haven`t gone all out in restoration or anything like that. What you get is a bog standard 1.85:1 transfer. The eighties source material has the typical evidence of grain common to all films of this era, and there are moments of dirt on the film. Other than that, the image is clear and well defined and the colours are adequately represented. The film itself showcases the best/worst (delete as per personal preference) of eighties style. Big hair and big clothes rule the day, with plenty of pastels and shoulder pads. Lurid neons light the department stores and Hollywood Montrose is a one-man history lesson of eighties uber-fashion.

Audio

Before Bryan Adams, Wet Wet Wet and Whitney Houston set the benchmark for movie ballad number ones, with reigns in months rather than weeks, there was another long lived number one, which I remember with far more fondness than any of the above. I am of course talking about Starship, with Nothing`s Gonna Stop Us Now. A decent toe-tapper, which never out stayed its chart welcome, it still sounds good today. I think that the song was more popular than the film itself, but with added soundtrack value from Belinda Carlisle and Alisha, this film has some excellent eighties tunes. The disc itself has the usual MGM array of soundtracks. A DD 2.0 Dolby Surround track in English is supplemented by DD 2.0 tracks in French, Italian, German and Spanish, with added subtitles. The sound is perfectly adequate for this film, with all the dialogue clearly represented. Frankly it`s the best you can hope for, for a film of this type.

Features

Ooh, a trailer. Wow!

Conclusion

You can tell this is an eighties film by the strangely placed dance routine in the middle of the picture. For a short moment, notably after the Breakfast Club, directors became uncertain if they were directing movies or pop promos and often the result was an early Bollywood style crossover. This film has what can best be termed as a ridiculous story, but on occasion a little ridicule can be good on the screen. While the idea of an ancient Egyptian reincarnated in a mannequin is the lightest of eighties fluff, it is all performed with such verve and energy by the cast that you can`t help but be drawn into the fun. Kim Cattrall is stunning as Emmy, she is wholesome and vibrant, with just a hint of the provocative that she is famed for today. Brat pack graduate, Andrew McCarthy strikes the right note as the slightly distracted artist whose creation comes to life. While the two stars propel the story along well enough, it is the supporting cast who add a sparkle to this film that make it so memorable. Estelle Getty is feisty as always as Claire Timkin, but James Spader makes a memorable impression as the slimy executive Richards. Slimy in more sense than one when you consider his hair in this film. It looks like he`s just been pulled out of a horse`s… Moving on, G. W Bailey is excellent as the bigoted little security guard, Felix Maxwell who throws in with Richards and his devious plans. His relationship with his inaptly named guard dog, Rambo is a hoot, and he gets some choice lines as the slow-witted security guard. Carole Davis is fun as Jonathan`s ex girlfriend and Illustra employee Roxie, who has some funny moments with her persistently amorous colleague Armand, Christopher Maher. But it`s Mesach Taylor`s performance as Hollywood Montrose that steals the show. The flamboyant window dresser has perhaps the most camp persona ever seen on the screen and he carries it off in style, able to convey a whole attitude with a click of his fingers and a well-placed " Mm-Hmm!"

The premise may be shaky, but the script is tight and the direction by Michael Gottlieb is with a light touch. A whole host of wonderful characters help make this film work, and work well. The eighties may scare a couple of people as the decade that taste forgot, but they`ll be missing out on an hour and half of fun. This is good wholesome entertainment with no violence and no pretensions to any higher meaning. But who says you have to watch deep and meaningful all the time? All together now, "And we can build this thing together, stand in stone forever, nothing`s gonna stop us now…"