Mannequin (1987)

(In French, On TV, July 2019) It’s one thing to remain open-minded to the possibility that a film’s execution would rescue an inane premise, but even that fog of possibility disappears after watching Mannequin: What? Were? They? Thinking? The premise is as dumb as it’s simple: What if a mannequin came to life in the presence of our protagonist? That’s it. Of course, the mannequin goes limp in the presence of another person. Of course, there are misunderstandings and caricatural business shenanigans and villains that seem to come out of a kid’s movie. But it’s not much of a comedy—despite a few bright spots, much of the film feels like a particularly dumb take on obvious material. Or at least that’s what happens when the film is not just weird for its own sake—I mean; that ancient Egypt prologue? Whew. At least Andrew McCarthy is likable, Kim Cattrall looks cute and Meshach Taylor gets a few laughs. It’s also interesting that a film would use downtown Philadelphia as its playing ground. But Mannequin never manages to take its premise and transform it into something more than the bare-bones minimum. The script is unimaginative when it’s not crazy (a bad combination), and the directing merely moves plot pieces around without going the extra distance. If Mannequin has any quality, it’s to show you the ground floor of what uninspired 1980s comedies felt like.