Pecker
Fine Line Features | Release Date: September 25, 1998 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
8
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Waters builds to a didactic message that he underlines with Disney-esque dream dust (in various colors), as if to protect his sincerity with the disclaimer of self-mockery. Read full review
90
Dallas ObserverAndy Klein
Pecker is a satire, but an incredibly good-natured one, which is not quite the contradiction in terms it might seem. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Think of writer-director Waters as the Frank Capra of an alternate universe and this film as his genially twisted version of "It's a Wonderful Life," and you'll begin to understand. Read full review
80
The New YorkerKen Marks
Waters gets uniformly bright performances from the large cast -- especially Christina Ricci as Pecker's girlfriend and Mary Kay Place as his mother -- and he succeeds in composing yet another twisted love letter to his home town. Read full review
80
Film ThreatRon Wells
Waters brilliantly skewers the pretensions of the New York art world and culture, and uses real people from that world in the process. Read full review
80
Film ThreatJ.D. LaFrance
Sure, it's lighthearted fare, but that doesn't make it any less of a good film. Read full review
80
Washington PostStephen Hunter
Frequently funny, just as frequently repulsive, it's filmed in Waters's trademark deadpan style that some adore and some loathe. Read full review
80
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
Finding hilarity in John Waters's latest movie title is the basic pre requisite for enjoying the goofy ingenuity of his new film. Read full review
80
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
It's also sweet, sentimental, rather funny and, as John Waters films go, surprisingly gentle. Read full review
80
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
It's a winning comedy, though some of Pecker's jokes inspire silence and some scenes are awkwardly staged. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Waters fills the movie with his usual touches of outrageously bad taste, but beneath the sophomoric shocks his story has a serious message about self-absorbed artists who care more about their own careers than the privacy of the people around them. Read full review
70
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
If scandal, sleaze, and celebrity worship are our national religion, then John Waters is an American prophet. Read full review
70
SlateDavid Edelstein
Pecker is a breezy, agreeable picture--a charmer, thumbs-up, three stars--but there's something disappointing about a John Waters film that's so evenhanded and all-embracing, even if its sunniness is "ironic." Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
As a whole, Pecker is enjoyable but also feels scattered and transitory. Read full review
60
VarietyEmanuel Levy
A pleasant but ephemeral spoof that may disappoint Waters' hard-core fans while not recruiting many new devotees. Read full review
60
EmpireAngie Errigo
His unique vision as a committed artist and unrepentantly crude joker makes this sweet, disarming, intelligent fun. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Waters follows these characters through their 15 minutes of fame without ever churning up very much interest in them. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
We've come a long way from the filthiest people in the world: Who knew Waters could be so bland? Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The content is actually pretty bland -- it's not incisive, it's not daring, it's not uproarious, and it's not very good. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Stack
The film is never truly funny, but it's an amusing novelty, gaining strength from smart characterizations and sly cogency about the way people are exploited under the limelight of celebrity. Read full review
50
San Francisco ExaminerEdvins Beitiks
It starts out well and winds up no worse than most of the stuff that comes out of Hollywood. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyManohla Dargis
It's no doubt rude, and perhaps irrelevant, to point out that John Waters still doesn't know how to make a movie. Read full review
25
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Watching Pecker, his rickety new comedy about a teenage Baltimore shutterbug, it becomes clear that Waters has grown color-blind to his own sleazo-shock aesthetic. Read full review
25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Ray Conlogue
It's a turning-the-tables story a five-year-old could appreciate -- except for the confusing crowd scenes and haphazard camera work. Technically speaking, Waters' skills haven't improved much over the years. Read full review
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