PECKER (FILM)

'Pecker' is a 1998 film directed by John Waters and starring Edward Furlong and Christina Ricci. It was filmed and set in Baltimore's Hampden neighborhood.
The film examines the rise to fame and potential fortune of a budding photographer.

Contents

Synopsis

Cast

Trivia

Goofs

See also

External links

Synopsis

Set amidst the colorful landscape of the director's beloved home town, Pecker tells the story of a goofy 18-year-old who works in a Baltimore sandwich shop and takes photos of his loving but peculiar family and friends on the side. Pecker (Edward Furlong), so named for his childhood habit of "pecking" at his food, stumbles into fame when his work is "discovered" by a savvy New York art dealer, Rorey Wheeler (Lili Taylor). Pecker's pictures - sometimes grainy, sometimes out of focus - are far from professional, but they somehow strike a chord with New York art collectors.
Unfortunately, instant over-exposure has its downside. Rorey's efforts to turn Pecker into an art sensation threaten to ruin the low-key lifestyle that was his inspiration. The unassuming teenager finds that his best friend Matt (Brendan Sexton III) can't even artfully shoplift anymore now that Pecker's photographs have increased his profile. Poor Shelley (Christina Ricci), Pecker's obsessive girlfriend who runs a laundromat, seems especially distressed when the press dub her a "stain goddess" and mistakes her good-natured "pin-up" poses for pornographic come-ons.
When his family is dubbed "culturally challenged" by an overzealous critic, Pecker really begins to feel the uncomfortable glare of stardom. And he's not the only one - Pecker's mom (Mary Kay Place) is no longer free to dispense fashion tips to the homeless clientele at her thrift shop and his grandmother, Memama (Jean Schertler), the pit beef queen of Baltimore, is held up to public ridicule when her peculiar religious experience with a talking statue of Mary is exposed on the cover of a national art magazine.
As if that is not bad enough, Tina (Martha Plimpton), Pecker's gay-friendly older sister, is fired from her job hiring go-go boys to dance at the Fudge Palace because Pecker's edgy photographs chronicle the secret sex practices of the club's patrons. Even Little Chrissy, his six year old sister, is feeling the pressure of celebrity when her eating disorder is exposed to the world bringing unwanted attention from nosy child welfare agencies.
In desperation, Pecker finds that he must choose between his new found fame and protecting his life and family in Baltimore. Can Pecker resist becoming a jerk? Will he have an affair with Rorey, his rich and exciting art dealer, or will he stick with his girlfriend, Shelley, who loves him for who he really is? Will he sell out or take back his career on his own terms? Can Pecker ever be truly "artless" once again?

Cast

★ Edward Furlong as Pecker

★ Christina Ricci as Shelley

★ Bess Armstrong as Dr. Klompus

★ Mark Joy as Jimmy

★ Mary Kay Place as Joyce

★ Martha Plimpton as Tina

★ Brendan Sexton III as Matt

★ Mink Stole as Precinct Captain

★ Lili Taylor as Rorey Wheeler

★ Patricia Hearst as Lynn Wentworth

★ Jean Schertler as Memama

Trivia

★ In the opening scene, the number of the bus is 7734. According to John Waters, this is an old Catholic school joke since '7734' upside-down "spells" hell.

★ The claw machine in the bar contains, among other things, a box of Ex-Lax, a box of Gas-X, a liquor bottle filled with a dark brown liquid (bourbon maybe?), and a cell phone.

★ Pecker's camera is an early model of the Canonet, a compact camera made over a period of more than a decade (primarily in the 1960s) by Canon for the consumer market. The camera takes so-so pictures, and today might be worth $20-$40, when it can be found. It is entirely plausible that Pecker might find such a camera in a thrift store, at a garage sale, or the like.

Goofs

★ In Pecker's darkroom, his prints are being taken out of the fixer after only a few seconds instead of the required five minutes and then immediately hung to dry instead of being rinsed in water for 10 minutes. The basement windows are also uncovered.

★ Pecker serves Miss Emily a sandwich with melted cheese. The close-up shows the sandwich with unmelted slices of cheese.

★ When Pecker's mom exits the gallery in New York a cab goes by from the "Checker" cab company of Baltimore.

★ At the end of the opening credits, Pecker photographs a woman outside the Sub Pit. He is holding the camera vertically, but we are shown a horizontal view through the viewfinder.

See also

★ Pecker (soundtrack)

External links

★

★ Pecker review at Analog Medium