Love for Dummies

Mannequin (1987) directed by Michael Gottlieb may offer some corny comedy, but not much else.
Jonathan Switcher (Andrew McCarthy) is an average guy who can’t maintain a job because he spends too much time “creating”. He hits a stroke of luck and is given a job as a night stock boy in a deserted department store. One night he stumbles upon a female mannequin he created at an old job. Magically this mannequin, Emma Hesire (Kim Cotrell) becomes human, but only when she is with him. The two spend their night’s gallivanting the store and decorating the storefront windows.

Roxie Shield (Carole Davis) brings action to this film as she leads the pack with her stomping, childish march to destroy all of the female mannequins. I am still not sure how she stormed off with such a tight dress on.

The humor in this film can be found in the corny scenes of Jonathan swooning a “piece of wood” or even driving around town with a mannequin on his motorcycle. We are exposed to a young G.W. Bailey in this film as a neurotic night guard with a dog named Rambo – these scenes will offer a lot of laughter.

This blog would not be complete without the mention of Mr. Hollywood Montrose (Meshach Taylor) and Mrs. Claire Prince Timkin (Estelle Getty). Hollywood was a wild, flaming black man has a comment for everything. The budget must have been blown with his crazy outfits and sunglasses – he had a different set for each scene. Ms. Prince really wasn’t utilized much, but her few lines were comical.

There wasn’t much to the scenery in this film as it was all inside a department store. The use of various departments though offered a little variety. Gottlieb tried to provide a variety in characters appearances, but variety in races were not covered well. Don’t think this film faired well through time. Kim Cotrell has a sexy appeal, but her 80’s outfits and swimsuit scene just don’t work now.

My thoughts after seeing this again many years later … I would probably leave this film on the shelf and move on to something else!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093493/