Mannequin (1987)

Originally Reviewed 

Monday January 1, 2007

If there is one decade that contains some of the more classic films ever made it has to be the 1980's. The 80's were a breeding ground for classic fun films that may not be academy award winners but always seemed to be fresh and entertaining. Films based on the impossible and outrageous that everyone wished were reality.  Film's such as Back to the Future, Weird Science and Mannequin.

Mannequin is a classic film about an aspiring artist named Jonathan Switcher who is currently working as a mannequin assembler. He loves his job and is very good at it, yet he takes too long to complete a project by putting too much time and energy into the look of his mannequins when his employers are only concerned with quantity. After being fired from that job, Jonathan’s dreams of ever becoming a great artist continue to be dashed as he is continually fired from every other job he acquires.

One evening Jonathan discovers the mannequin he created, and regarded as his first masterpiece, was being displayed in the window of a huge department store. As luck has it Jonathan acquires a job there and soon discovers that his mannequin is no ordinary statue! Whenever he is alone with the mannequin she comes to life. With the help of is hand created dream girl Emmy the two of them begin to bring the struggling department store back to life with their shocking and original window displays.

The crowd drawing displays quickly make Jonathan the talk of the town, with the strange reputation of walking around with a certain mannequin. Success also brings with it trouble as the competing department store who was trying to run them out of business will now do just about anything to get their hands on Jonathan and this strange mystery woman.

Mannequin is a fun little romantic comedy that takes an impossible situation, that surely many people have probably dreamed of, and turns it into a reality. It's quite corny at times but overall very enjoyable and quite well cast. A young Kim Cattrall, as the mannequin Emmy, is nothing sort of drop dead gorgeous, and the film is simply a classic that is sure to please most viewers and have a quite high re-watch-ability factor. In the end, it's a very unique romantic comedy that hasn't seen a lot of remakes over the years so even being an older film it still has a fresh feeling to it.

8/10