Pumpkin scores bonus points for risk-taking satire, but it’s the right movie made by the wrong people. Despite an able assist from star and coproducer Christina Ricci, first-time codirectors (and USC film-school graduates) Anthony Abrams and Adam Larson Broder lack the delicate touch required to pull off a comedic romance between an idealistic sorority girl (Ricci) and the semi-retarded, physically challenged boy nicknamed Pumpkin (Hank Harris) whom she’s paired with as part of her sorority’s image-boosting charity campaign. The movie boldly addresses the taboos and condescension typically applied toward the disabled in movies and hits its satirical targets (social elitism, campus hypocrisy) while undermining the "Jerry’s Kids" stereotype of so-called "special" people. It’s a valiant effort, but the strengths of Pumpkin are overwhelmed by its ineptitude, with poor character development, choppy plotting, and rampant inconsistencies. Its many flaws aside, Pumpkin deserves credit for trying something new, difficult, and altogether challenging. --Jeff Shannon
2.
Christina Ricci stars as Carolyn McDuffy, a picture-perfect blonde sorority princess (reminiscent of Reese Witherspoon's perky LEGALLY BLONDE co-ed, Elle Woods) enjoying her senior year at Southern California State University. Carolyn has been voted "Most Enthusiastic" by her Alpha Omega Pi sisters and the perky socialite is willing to do anything to help her sorority win the coveted Sorority of the Year award. In order to beat their longtime rivals and sorority champions, the Tri-Omegas, the Alpha Pi's pick a perfectly P.C. charity: the Challenged Games, an competition that is similar to the Special Olympics. Carolyn is assigned Pumpkin Romanoff, a sweet-natured, wheelchair-bound shot-putter who immediately falls for his beautiful coach. Pumpkin is determined to win his love's affection and will do anything (including a rigorous workout regime that frees him from his wheelchair) to win Carolyn's heart. Surprisingly, his efforts begin to pay off and slowly the perfectly coiffed sorority sister begins to fall for Pumpkin's "beautiful soul," causing a campus sensation that severely threatens her popularity and upsets her tennis champion boyfriend (Sam Ball), her WASPY mother (Lisa Banes), and Pumpkin's overprotective mother (Brenda Blethyn). This darkly comedic satire lampoons the social hierarchy of sororities with a fresh and daring edge, created by debut filmmakers Adam Larson Broder and Tony R. Abrams.
3.
When Carolyn McDuffy (Christina Ricci) finds her "have-it-all" existence doesn't have all she wants, she embarks on an unlikely romance that drags her entire sorority kicking and screaming into a culture clash of comic proportions!
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