''Good Dick'' is a 2008 film written and directed by

Marianna Palka Marianna Bronislawa Barbara Palka (born 7 September 1981) is a Scottish actress, producer, director, and writer. She is the writer, director and star of the film '' Good Dick'', which screened at the Sundance Film Festival. Early life and edu ...

. Palka also stars in the film, opposite

Jason Ritter Jason Morgan Ritter (born February 17, 1980) is an American actor and producer. He is known for his roles as Kevin Girardi in the television series ''Joan of Arcadia'', Ethan Haas in '' The Class'', Sean Walker in the NBC series '' The Event'', ...

. ''Good Dick'' premiered in the Dramatic Competition of the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

Plot

video store A video rental shop/store is a physical retail business that rents home videos such as movies, prerecorded TV shows, video game discs and other media content. Typically, a rental shop conducts business with customers under conditions and terms a ...

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

stalks, spies on and manipulates a reclusive woman, who often comes to the video store where he works to rent soft-core porn. Eventually, despite his strong optimism, her dislike of sex and resulting defensiveness drives them apart. It is revealed toward the end of the film that her dislike of both sex and relationships was fueled by

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...

at the hands of her father. The film ends with a confrontation with her father, and ultimately Ritter's character reuniting with her.

Festivals and competitions

The film competed in the Dramatic Competition at the

2008 Sundance Film Festival The 2008 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 17, 2008 to January 27 in Park City, Utah. It was the 24th iteration of the Sundance Film Festival. The opening night film was '' In Bruges'' and the closing night film was '' CSNY Déjà Vu''. Fil ...

Release

The film was released on October 10, 2008 by

Gravitas Ventures Gravitas Ventures is an independent film distribution company owned by Anthem Sports and Entertainment. The company was founded by Nolan Gallagher in Los Angeles, California in 2006 and moved its headquarters to Cleveland, Ohio in 2019, where it f ...

Reception

''Good Dick'' has a

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

average of 54 based on 11 reviews, which the site describes as "mixed or average reviews," largely turning on reactions to the film's unusual premise and characters. Writing for

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

, Noel Murray gave one of the film's most negative reviews, calling it "indie-quirk to the motherfucking core. Not a single line or gesture has anything to do with the world in which real people live." By contrast, in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', Jeannette Catsoulis said the film "surmounts its indie-movie quirkiness with exceptional acting and a sincere belief in the salvation of its wounded characters." In the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'', Carino Chocano felt that the film "carries its messed-up, highly improbable premise so lightly and gracefully that it ultimately comes off as a sweet, plausible and curiously grounded love story -- and touchingly old-fashioned for a movie about the adventures of a serial masturbator and the homeless kid who stalks her." , ''Good Dick'' holds a 50% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 42 reviews, with the consensus; "Marianna Palka's quirky indie debut centered on two dysfunctional loners is hit and miss, but has enough originality to see it through."

References

External links

* * * * * {{Metacritic film 2008 films American independent films Films by Scottish directors 2008 directorial debut films 2000s English-language films Films directed by Marianna Palka 2000s American films