Pumpkin
Tags: cult, psychedelic, satire

Plot synopsis:
Carolyn McDuffy (Christina Ricci), in an effort to help her sorority sisters win a coveted award that has eluded them in the past years, joins them in training some handicapped young adults for the Challenged Games (a fictional version of the Special Olympics). Carolyn is linked with Jesse "Pumpkin" Romanoff (Hank Harris) 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, as led by Julie Thurber (Marisa Coughlan), and her boyfriend, Kent Woodlands (Sam Ball).
Carolyn experiences backlash and disdain about the relationship from her friends and family, including Pumpkin's own mother, Judy (Brenda Blethyn), despite the fact that Carolyn's love has inspired Pumpkin to get out of his wheelchair and become the best athlete on the team. Judy later walks into her son's room and discovers that Carolyn and Pumpkin have been sexually involved. Pumpkin's mother accuses her of raping her son, claiming Carolyn "has no idea what she has done" to Pumpkin. Pumpkin's mother calls Carolyn's school, causing Carolyn to be kicked out of both her sorority and her school. Carolyn makes a suicide attempt by taking most of the pills and solutions from her medicine cabinet, but no real damage is done as Carolyn then throws up everything she took.
As Kent and Carolyn make the ideallistic "perfect couple," their attendance to the sorority ball would secure a win for the sorority award. The sorority pulls strings to allow Carolyn back into school and the sorority, where Kent takes her back. At the ball, Pumpkin and his friends crash the party to allow Pumpkin a dance with Carolyn. Kent won't stand for it and punches Pumpkin repeatedly as the girls hold Carolyn and keep Pumpkin's friends at bay. Kent turns his back as Pumpkin gathers his wits, charging and tackling Kent, knocking him unconscious for a few seconds. Kent gets up, looks around, and runs off crying. Carolyn tries to take Pumpkin inside to the dance, but Julie and 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 a cliff with the car exploding in midair, crashing to the bottom. 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 and the sorority, swearing off Pumpkin forever. The sorority stops helping the team and the rival sorority wins the award. Carolyn enrolls at a public university, opening up to her peers who 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 both a motivator and humble person. Pumpkin races his rival, a 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 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. As Carolyn and Pumpkin walk off together, she asks him what name she should call him, his real name, and he replies that "Pumpkin will be fine."

Review: As I watched the film "Pumpkin" recklessly and fearlessly go from somewhat absurd situation to complete and utter silliness, I got the sense that it was made with a sense of joy that few movies are made with these days.
Everything in this movie subverts itself - - in the big satiric moments, this is obvious (the car crash after which Kent's face is unscratched), but one must look closely at what seem to be serious or sentimental moments to realize that these are indeed hilarious and subversive moments as well (the romantic dialogue between Carolyn and Pumpkin is completely absurdist if you keep in mind Pumpkin's "problem.")Indeed, most Americans are used to films cueing them as to when they are being serious and when they are being funny and audiences are trained to watch for this.
Indeed, when you realize that "Pumpkin" fits in no box and, in effect, challenges our notion what a movie should be, you're set free and you begin to laugh at what is the funniest film I've seen in a long time..
But for me, I am in the love section, so I would recommend everyone watches it at least once before judging it.The movie centers around Carolyn (Christina Ricci), the beautiful, popular girl with the boyfriend all the other girls want.
A love interest in Pumpkin could make her looked down upon by everyone who surrounds her, and possibly ruin her perfect life.A lot of people seem to like bashing the film, while others simply talk about how much they like it.
Pumpkin is one of, if not, my favorite movie, so I would give it a 10/10 because it has everything I like; not because of the acting, filming, directing, etc.
I'd recommend you to watch Pumpkin and decide how you feel about it.I also find people think it is offending (haters) or sweet and touching (lovers).
The plot revolves around a stereotypical prom queen' type of sorority girl falling in love with a mentally (and physically) handicapped boy, and how everything she once held dear falls apart because of it.This is the sort of project that Christina Ricci has made a career out of doing.
Take for instance when Ricci's character tries to kill herself by overdosing on Night Quill and Pepto-Bismol-only to succeed in making herself sick to her stomach.However, while satirical, it does make good points on how the general public view and think about the mentally handicapped.
How beneath the platitudes and seeming self sacrifice, most people still view them as unequal' to the rest of us-people to whom mouth service is given, but true acceptance of is never a genuine consideration.The way everyone turns on Ricci's character (her friends, her boyfriend, her parents) when it's made clear her feelings for her special friend'-it's very poignant and very real (if not also very farcical).
"Pumpkin" slips mercurially through the genres ending up somewhere around black comedy with farcical overtones and biting undercurrents as it tells of a privileged, superficial sorority sister (Ricci) who "gets real" and falls for a mentally challenged man (Harris) while coaching him for a Special Olympics type event.
Probably a real achievement given the experience of the auteur, "Pumpkin" will likely end up a love it or hate it flick of modest significance.
When Ricci's character meets Pumpkin, played by Hank Harris, her entire world changes.
A dark teenage comedy, Pumpkin tells of the story of the perfection obsessed sorority girl Carolyn McDuffy who falls for Pumpkin, a mentally challenged boy she meets when her sorority house agrees to coach some `special people.' The film forces the viewer to look inward and confront their own prejudices, but it does so in such a strange and weirdly paced way that it is hard to recommend Pumpkin, although I think it is an interesting movie.
I rarely bother commenting on a movie I've rated as low as this one, but for the benefit of those who were as intrigued by the trailer as I was, here are my thoughts.This film has nothing going for it beyond its star, Christina Ricci.
The last half of the movie is like watching somebody dying of cancer.Christina Ricci plays a conceited sorority girl who reluctantly participates as a mentor for the developmentally disabled.
Ricci is touched by Pumpkin's sensitivity, and he's in love with her.There are a few funny scenes in the beginning of the film, and there are tender moments as the little rich girl breaks out of her social bonds, but the film never decides what it wants to be - comedy or social commentary.
I rented it because I like Christina Ricci and had heard that the movie was very good.
In fact, the film pays the audience the rare compliment of expecting them to figure out the themes for themselves.The only disappointment I had with this tale of a Sorority sister reluctantly falling in love with the disabled Pumpkin was his self administered rehabilitation.
Roger Ebert, in the Chicago Sun-Times, gives the movie a very good grade (three-and-a-half stars) and concludes his review by remarking: "Pumpkin is alive, and takes chances, and uses the wicked blade of satire in order to show up the complacent political correctness of other movies in its campus genre.
It refuses to play it safe...Mr. Ebert adds: "...there is courage in the performances."I couldn't say it better--and, if Mr. Ebert likes this movie, it's definitely got to be very good.The movie tells the story of how people fall in love for all of the right reasons, or for all of the wrong reasons.
And--including probability in the decision-making process--there will be a good-to- excellent probability for high-quality satisfaction.Because of this, and the courage in the movie's message, I rank the film a 10 out of 10.
The acting is god-awful; Christina Ricci's performance is like something you'd expect from someone performing at a small high school that had barely enough interested people to put on the show at all.
Abrams): Mostly believable drama about a sorority girl(played by Christina Ricci) who goes out of her way to give special attention to a challenged(aka.
This movie starts out looking like a very corny comedy, but abruptly takes a serious note when Pumpkin, played by Hank Harris, comes onto the scene.
Ricci's character, Carolyn, immediately starts having a dramatic effect on Pumpkin's social and physical abilities as he improves everyday in her presence and this is seen by those around her and jealousy and curiosity ensues.
The only annoying thing about this movie is it's many emotional twists&turns in direction, mainly coming from Carolyn's twists and turns in her own thinking, but this is bearable because of Ricci's appeal and the understanding that this character is being put through the wringer with her own emotions mainly because of her confused up-bringing and the reaction from people around her.
All in all, the weakness in this movie comes from the direction(being done by two individuals, maybe this was part of the problem) but the players, especially Ricci & Harris, rise above it to make a meaningful drama about societies confusion towards the challenged individual and the rift that is there between them and the rest of society..
She begins spending time with Pumpkin, despite what her sorority sisters, boyfriend, and family say about it.Carolyn soon becomes confused about her feelings.
Carolyn begins to examine her outlook on life and wonder if she was really living to begin with.Review: Being a big Christina Ricci fan, I was eager to see Pumpkin.
It's a wonderful moment and you can really feel what she is thinking and understand her.The film is good and I would definitely considering buying it if I see it for sale.
Half of Pumpkin wants to be a an over-the-top, artificial satire like Heathers or But I'm a Cheerleader, and the other half wants to be a sweet movie of a shallow girl who grows from her experience with a mentally challenged boy.
Christina Ricci is the perfect odd but totally appropriate casting choice as the sorority girl who falls in love with the retarded boy.
Carolyn has it all, she is pretty, popular and has a boyfriend all the girls wish they had but after she is made help a disordered boy named Pumpkin in a desperate attempt to make her frat house the best her whole life is changed.
Instead of unfolding like you are lead to believe instead of making Carolyn see the light and be reborn into goodness by Pumpkins existence her life is flipped upside down and she is even driven as far as to commit suicide.
A girl with a happy way of living has her life almost totally ruined in an instant and not on thing that happens in this film makes any sense or is in the least bit believable.
A film like this should be telling us to look beneath the surface and see people for their inner beauty because after all isn't it that inner beauty that we fall in love with for in the first place?
There are only about five scenes in the entire film that deal with the feelings between Pumpkin and Carolyn, the rest is dedicated to stuck up people who don't seem to have a clue of what is going on around them.
The acting in this film is dreadful, think what you would get if you crossed a lame soap opera with an after school special from the early 80's and you can probably get a good idea of what the acting is like.
I can't say why this hasn't become a cult classic, as it's such a rich and wonderful satirical story with silliness and heart and real humanity.Christina Ricci shines brightly in this film, true to her character from beginning to end.
The story telling then finds its way through awful situations as the society points at the two lovers, and funny and spirited black humor has the weak ones take their revenge on the beautiful people.
There are a few half hearted attempts at humor (which were far from funny)  There were a few "touching moments" (which never worked in the slightest, since the characters were so one dimentional)A perfect example is the love story between Carolyn and Pumpkin.
Pumpkin (2002) is a horrible movie, which is why it is awesome.Cristina Ricci plays Carolyn, a `typical' sorority girl.
Ricci's character does not want to be associated with `those types of people.'  However after getting to know one of the challenged athletes, named Pumpkin, she falls in love with him.
Satirical and witty in a dark way, Pumpkin challenges our views of sorority life, mothers, and the mentally retarded.
It is a testament of sorts to the ambivalence of "Pumpkin" that so many people who obviously love movies (imdb members who take the time and effort to comment here) could watch this movie, and come away with such a vast disparity of opinions, not of the film's overall quality, but as to exactly what kind of movie the director, screenwriter and producers were trying to tell in the first place.
It seems several commentators here actually took the movie at face value, and thought it a straight-faced "romance" between a privileged sorority member (Ms. Ricci who, arguably, plays it so brilliantly straight-faced, the audience can't help but be left off balance) and a mentally- and physically-handicapped boy whose quiet suffering inspires our heretofore self-indulgent protagonist to take stock in herself, and look beyond the shallow limits of her egocentric worldview.
"Pumpkin" is NOT black comedy, a genre marked by subtle undercurrents of the macabre that allow its audiences the occasional uncomfortable laughs, but in which larger and decidedly UN-funny themes are at the heart of the movie.
The fact that the actors who play the two lead roles, Pumpkin and Kent, actually do lend better than stereotypical performances to this film, however, makes one wonder just how intention was the suckiness provided by the other actors.Overall, however, his was a decent film that keeps audiences watching, and the filmmakers should be commended for doing a movie on this particular subject.
While I do respect the fact that those movies are made to increase awareness on those diseases, I would like to see more films made about those people like Pumpkin who just have basic mental retardation.The film could have been better if they had treated this subject more seriously.
I thought Christina Ricci was really good in it...she is a real babe,...and I thought she was really pretty as a blonde (: The story of this movie I understood very well, because, I myself, spent time working with disabled people, much like the ones in this movie, so I feel I understand them more then some might.
Maybe its my growing infatuation for Christina Ricci or maybe I like the idea of a story where a character needs to overcome odds (and I never get old of this all to common theme in movies) but I liked this movie.It was never meant to be the greatest movie of all time and for someone to say that it is the 2nd worst movie they have ever seen is a stretch in my mind.The characters were believable (if any of you have been to college you would know that 99% of the people you meet are closed-minded) and the acting was great.
Hank Harris took on a difficult role and did it with courage and honesty.Christina Ricci is just becoming an amazing actress and you can't help but be rooting for her in this movie to keep fighting the fight she believes in.
"Pumpkin" fits in perfectly to a wonderful little genre of films like "Ghost World" and "My First Mister." If only every fifth film were as good and sweet as this little flawed gem...
I've been an IMDB comment-reader for a long time, but I never bothered to register before, because I didn't feel that I had anything important to say.However, I registered tonight so that I could let the World know that this film, "Pumpkin" is a TURKEY.
I hardly ever write comments on films, I guess I can't be bothered most of the time even though I benefit from other's writings since I watch a pretty absurd amount of movies.
My husband and I love Christina Ricci and we picked up Pumpkin simply because of her, but this movie just wasn't worth it.
Pumpkin (the movie, not the character) tries so hard to do so many different things that it doesn't do any of them adequately.
But I feel the most important subject to touch on that this movie stressed was that Carolyn treated Pumpkin like a normal person and he blossomed.
It may make you look at whether you laugh at weird disabled people, or feel uncomfortable wondering whether this movie is doing just that.
Christina Ricci was great in her role, hopefully we see more of her in the future, i think she shows that given the right movie she can definitely carry it.
From the guy who played Kent to Julie, the head of the sorority, to Christina Ricci and Pumpkin, every actor seemed to be in on the joke, knowing how far to push things without going overboard into John Waters land.
I don't know what is more funny: this movie or the people complaining about the lack of reality in the film.
I think that the particular disability of the character 'Pumpkin' is made purposefully vague (and is never given a name) so as not to make those of us who know a lot about a particular disabilities feel the need to point out mistakes or to say to ourselves 'that could never happen to *my* disabled loved one, I am offended/this movie is stupid' and such.
I recommend this movie to anyone who wants to laugh and think, whether or not you have a  disabled loved one; whether or not you know anything about the topic..
I won't trot out my "I know a mentally disabled person" credentials, but will say that the idea of someone like Carolyn falling in love with someone like Pumpkin is heartening to me.
I will say that Christina Ricci looked beautiful and that the boy who played Pumpkin was a good actor.
With the exception of Pumpkin (by the way, they never explained the meaning of his name at all), every single character in this movies acted excruciatingly absurd, especially Kent.
Pumpkin is a somewhat random feeling story of a sorority girl falling in love with a disabled boy despite her "perfect" life.
Pumpkin is a wonderful movie, at times depressing while still funny.
It should be noted that, other than this film, I've never seen a movie that quite captured the essence of what it's like to be in college here and now.Christina Ricci's character falls in love with a challenged boy her age as she mentors challenged athletes for a "charity" her sorority engages in in competition for Sorority of the Year.
christina ricci and dominique swain pull off the best parody of sorority life i have ever seen in a movie.
I like Christina Ricci and was excited about seeing a new film.
"Pumpkin" is a special film that isn't afraid to take chances.It has some hysterical moments that truly skewer college life and social hierarchies.Amongst the divine comedy is a great human story.The performances are wonderful especially Christina Ricci as Carolyn(looking the best ever as a blonde) and Marisa Coughlan as the head of the sorority Julie.Coughlan takes her character and sinks her teeth into it showing us the obsessive shallow behavior to the utmost extreme with the best comedic and realistic capabilities I have ever seen.
Carolyn is touched by Pumpkin, and she begins to fall in love with him.