Pumpkin (film)

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Pumpkin
Pumpkin
Directed by	Anthony Abrams Adam Larson Broder
Produced by	Linda Reisman Karen Barber Christina Ricci Albert Berger
Written by	Adam Larson Broder
Starring	Christina Ricci Hank Harris
Music by	John Ottman
Cinematography	Tim Suhrstedt
Editing by	Richard Halsey Sloane Klevin
Distributed by	MGM
Release date(s)	January 14, 2002
Running time	113 min.
Country	USA
Language	English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Pumpkin is a 2002 film starring Christina Ricci. It is a dark comedy and story of forbidden love between a handicapped man (Hank Harris) and a sorority girl (Ricci). The film was directed by Anthony Abrams and Adam Larson Broder and written by Adam Larson Broder.

1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Reaction in the United States
4 External links

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Charity

Carolyn McDuffy, in an effort to help her sorority sisters win a coveted award that has eluded them in the past years, joins them in an effort to train some handicapped young adults for Challenged Games - a fictional analogy to the Special Olympics. Carolyn is linked with Pumpkin Romanoff and is horrified, mostly because she has never been in such an environment. Pumpkin is kind towards her and soon she finds herself falling in love with him because he is genuine, unlike her sorority sisters and her boyfriend.

[edit] Pumpkin and Carolyn

Everyone hates the idea of Carolyn being in love with this "retard", including Pumpkin's own mother, despite the fact that Carolyn's love has inspired Pumpkin to get out of his wheelchair and become the best athlete on the team. In one of the climatic scenes, Pumpkin's mother walks into her son's room and discovers that Carolyn and Pumpkin have consummated their love. Pumpkin's mother accuses her of raping her son and says he has no idea what she has done to him. She calls Carolyn's school and Carolyn is kicked out of school and the sorority.

[edit] Back In The Fold

Strings are pulled since Kent and Carolyn are the perfect couple and would ensure the sorority winning the award, and Carolyn is let back into school, as well as the sorority, and her boyfriend Kent takes her back.

It all comes to a climax at the sorority's ball, where Pumpkin and his friends crash the party so Pumpkin can dance with the woman he loves. Kent won't stand for it, being that he is a tennis jock being dumped for a "retard". He punches Pumpkin repeatedly as the girls are holding Carolyn and keeping Pumpkin's friends at bay. He turns his back as Pumpkin gathers his wits. Pumpkin charges Kent, bearhugs him, and drops him, knocking him out for a few seconds, leaving everyone stunned, including Pumpkin. He gets up, looks around and runs off crying. Carolyn tries to take Pumpkin inside to the dance, but the sorority sisters won't let them in. Carolyn pushes her way through with Pumpkin and they dance alone. Soon, others start to see the love between them and join them on the dance floor.

As they're dancing, Kent is shown driving erratically and sobbing hysterically. He swerves to avoid a truck and plunges off the cliff. The car explodes in midair and crashes to the bottom of the cliff. Carolyn goes to the hospital to check on Kent and finds that he is now paraplegic, though not burned from the explosion. He blames Carolyn for his problems and she is left distraught. She quits school, the sorority, and swears off Pumpkin forever. The sorority stops helping the team and the rival sorority wins the award.

[edit] The Race

Carolyn is at a public university and opens up to her peers. They encourage her to go for what she wants. The sorority sisters have a change of heart and show up at the Olympic event. Kent is now the coach for Pumpkin's team and has become a motivator and humble person. The race is down to Pumpkin and his rival, a big bully who berates Pumpkin at every chance given.

Pumpkin is motivated by Kent, telling him to win it for Carolyn and saying she wouldn't want him to lose. As he's running, he sees Carolyn in the stands and gets a sudden boost of energy. Pumpkin wins the race and at the finish line he is congratulated by the sorority sisters, his mother and Kent. Carolyn comes down to see Pumpkin as his mother is hugging him. She endears him to Carolyn, finally accepting her son's progress into a man. Carolyn and Pumpkin walk off together. She asks him if she should keep calling him Pumpkin and he says yes. She then asked him a question about the moon and if he meant something he said literally or metaphorically, to which Pumpkin answered, "What?" Carolyn turns around and looks for a second and then walks with Pumpkin.

[edit] Cast

Christina Ricci - Carolyn McDuffy
Hank Harris - Pumpkin Romanoff
Brenda Blethyn - Judy Romanoff
Dominique Swain - Jeanine Kryszinsky
Marisa Coughlan - Julie Thurber
Samuel Ball - Kent Woodlands
Harry J. Lennix - Robert Meary (Poetry teacher)
Nina Foch - Betsy Collander
Caroline Aaron - Claudia Prinsinger
Lisa Banes - Chippy McDuffy
Julio Oscar Mechoso - Dr. Frederico Cruz
Phil Reeves - Burt Wohlfert
Marisa Parker - Courtney Burke
Tait Smith - Hansie Prinsinger
Michael Bacall - Casey Whitner

[edit] Reaction in the United States

The film received mixed reviews in the United States, with some critics calling it "a worthy successor to the dark, dry dementia of Heathers" [1] and others labeling it "an amazing film amazingly tasteless." [2][3] Several American critics seemed confused by what they considered to be shifts in tone throughout the film between sharp satire and what one critic described as "[a]n Afterschool Special."[4] Roger Ebert, one of a number of esteemed critics who responded enthusiastically to the film, said of it, " "Pumpkin" may make you mad, but at least you're not angry because it wasn't trying."[5] The film got an extremely limited release (its widest release was 19 theaters) and only grossed about $300,000 in the United States.[6]. Since its release on DVD, the film has gone on to become somewhat of a growing cult classic, with a number of film sites recognizing it as "one of the most underrated films of the decade." [7]