Tinny comedy pounded flat marks ''Mannequin Two: On the Move,'' the follow-up to 1987's ''Mannequin.''
Obviously aimed at the early teen masses of the coast-to-coast suburban sprawl, this modestly budgeted feature may well find enough bubble gum chewers to turn a buck or two. Forget breakout business of any kind, though, and the film's real profits probably await it in video rentals on babysitter nights.
Adopting the basic plot but only one of the original characters, ''Mannequin Two'' opens with a medieval setup scene during which beautiful young peasant Jessie (Kristy Swanson) is put under a spell by an evil magician (Terry Kiser) at the behest of a queen mom (Cynthia Harris) who doesn't want her prince of a lovesick son (William Ragsdale) polluting his royal blood with common stock.
Cut to 1,000 years later when Philadelphia department store employee and all-around nice guy Jason Williamson (Ragsdale again) is working on a display from the European kingdom of Hauptmann-Koenig that includes the wooden body of the self-same enchanted peasant girl.
Jason accidently removes the necklace that enforces the spell, and Jessie, giddily happy to be alive in a century in which she can go disco dancing in a stretch minidress, falls in love with her apparently reincarnated prince. Jason, who is not blind, reciprocates.
However, the descendant of the evil sorcerer, Count Spretzle (Kiser again) is after the reawakened lass himself, and with a trio of wooden-headed body builders, ends up chasing and dueling (literally) with Jason for her possession.
The thin action is filled out with hit-or-mostly miss comedy schtick from the usually more reliable Kiser, Stuart Pankin as a huffily officious store manager, Harris reincarnated as Jason's dating service-owner mom, and especially from Meshach Taylor as Jason's boss, Hollywood Montrose, a gay display artist who is the only character held over from the original film (Taylor also doubles in a small role as a nightclub doorman).
Taylor gives forth with every gay designer cliche ever imagined, clearly trading on Middle America's stereotypes, but on the other hand, his character is also courageous and ingenious at key moments.
Although the period opening displays some flair and the ending picks up some much-needed steam, the movie's middle is a vast wasteland of tired jokes and ersatz romance. The cast appears to be making game stabs at humor, and director Stewart Raffill pumps up a few scenes, but there are far too many script misfires and built-in flat tires (every time the bodybuilding trio shows up the film dies) to overcome.
The film was shot partly at John Wanamaker Department Store in Philadelphia, a setting that lends helpful doses of atmosphere.
MANNEQUIN: TWO ON THE MOVE
Gladden Entertainment
20th Century Fox
Producer Edward Rugoff
Director Stewart Raffill
Writers Edward Rugoff, David Isaacs,
Ken Levine, Betsy Israel
Director of photographyLarry Pizer
Production design William J. Creber
Editor John Rosenberg, Joan Chapman
Music David McHugh
Color/Dolby
Cast:
Jessie Kristy Swanson
Jason/Prince William Ragsdale
Hollywood/doorman Meshach Taylor
Count Spretzle/Sorcerer Terry Kiser
Mr. James Stuart Pankin
Mrs. Williamson/Queen Cynthia Harris
Running time -- 95 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
Obviously aimed at the early teen masses of the coast-to-coast suburban sprawl, this modestly budgeted feature may well find enough bubble gum chewers to turn a buck or two. Forget breakout business of any kind, though, and the film's real profits probably await it in video rentals on babysitter nights.
Adopting the basic plot but only one of the original characters, ''Mannequin Two'' opens with a medieval setup scene during which beautiful young peasant Jessie (Kristy Swanson) is put under a spell by an evil magician (Terry Kiser) at the behest of a queen mom (Cynthia Harris) who doesn't want her prince of a lovesick son (William Ragsdale) polluting his royal blood with common stock.
Cut to 1,000 years later when Philadelphia department store employee and all-around nice guy Jason Williamson (Ragsdale again) is working on a display from the European kingdom of Hauptmann-Koenig that includes the wooden body of the self-same enchanted peasant girl.
Jason accidently removes the necklace that enforces the spell, and Jessie, giddily happy to be alive in a century in which she can go disco dancing in a stretch minidress, falls in love with her apparently reincarnated prince. Jason, who is not blind, reciprocates.
However, the descendant of the evil sorcerer, Count Spretzle (Kiser again) is after the reawakened lass himself, and with a trio of wooden-headed body builders, ends up chasing and dueling (literally) with Jason for her possession.
The thin action is filled out with hit-or-mostly miss comedy schtick from the usually more reliable Kiser, Stuart Pankin as a huffily officious store manager, Harris reincarnated as Jason's dating service-owner mom, and especially from Meshach Taylor as Jason's boss, Hollywood Montrose, a gay display artist who is the only character held over from the original film (Taylor also doubles in a small role as a nightclub doorman).
Taylor gives forth with every gay designer cliche ever imagined, clearly trading on Middle America's stereotypes, but on the other hand, his character is also courageous and ingenious at key moments.
Although the period opening displays some flair and the ending picks up some much-needed steam, the movie's middle is a vast wasteland of tired jokes and ersatz romance. The cast appears to be making game stabs at humor, and director Stewart Raffill pumps up a few scenes, but there are far too many script misfires and built-in flat tires (every time the bodybuilding trio shows up the film dies) to overcome.
The film was shot partly at John Wanamaker Department Store in Philadelphia, a setting that lends helpful doses of atmosphere.
MANNEQUIN: TWO ON THE MOVE
Gladden Entertainment
20th Century Fox
Producer Edward Rugoff
Director Stewart Raffill
Writers Edward Rugoff, David Isaacs,
Ken Levine, Betsy Israel
Director of photographyLarry Pizer
Production design William J. Creber
Editor John Rosenberg, Joan Chapman
Music David McHugh
Color/Dolby
Cast:
Jessie Kristy Swanson
Jason/Prince William Ragsdale
Hollywood/doorman Meshach Taylor
Count Spretzle/Sorcerer Terry Kiser
Mr. James Stuart Pankin
Mrs. Williamson/Queen Cynthia Harris
Running time -- 95 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
- 5/17/1991
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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