3008. Mannequin (1987)

Starring: Andrew McCarthy, Kim Cattrall, Estelle Getty

Director: Michael Gottlieb

Running Time: 90 mins

Mannequin is an American film about a young man struggling to find his place in the world who makes a beautiful mannequin that comes to life, and falls in love with her.

Pretty much just a rehash of Weird Science but without any of the morality, Mannequin is far from the fun-loving fantasy comedy it wants to be. In fact, with the exception of a zany premise, it’s a really dull watch, not only due to a superficial screenplay, but also a lack of good humour throughout.

Of course, I don’t want to chastise the film too heavily for its lack of dramatic depth. After all, it’s meant to be a light-hearted fantasy comedy, so if you want to watch it without thinking about it, that’s more than fine.

The problem with that, however, is twofold. On the one hand, this same story has been done before – in the case of Weird Science – and it’s been done much better. The fantasy of a beautiful woman falling for a young man and doing everything he wants is perfectly fun, but it’s a story that should really come with a little more reflection.

Weird Science does more than just tell a dreamy story about a perfect woman, instead offering up some more interesting moral questions about maturity, control and the nature of a relationship. Mannequin, however, does nothing of the kind, and tells a story that really has nothing to say.

Again, it’s meant to be a light-hearted comedy so I wouldn’t expect a mind-bending, earth-shattering analysis of romance and relationships, but there really is nothing of worth in the story here. It’s an hour and a half of a young man and a beautiful woman mindlessly spending time together, and that’s about it.

Of course, Mannequin could have still been a fun watch if it embraced its more braindead characteristics with a good sense of humour. However, not only is the film fairly unintelligent, it’s also not very funny.

Though it has a zany premise and a likably ’80s atmosphere (the music and fashion in particular), the comedy is poor all the way through, and I don’t remember laughing once.

Some of its more ridiculous moments may spark a smile, but the reality is that Mannequin fails to capitalise on what could have been a fun-loving and enjoyably silly fantasy comedy, instead proving just as unfunny as it is unintelligent, and that’s why I’m giving it a 5.7 overall.