LOVE OBJECT
2003
Written and Directed by Robert Parigi
A.K.A. Alfred Hitchcock's how not to use your REALdoll
PlotKenneth is a meekish, shy young technical writer. He's made fun of often by his peers, yet he's the best writer his company's got. One day, a coworker shows him a post card of an attractive woman, then reveals that she's not real. The postcard is an advertisement for a company that makes ultra-realistic, life-sized dolls as sex/fantasy aids. The idea intrigues the lonely Kenneth, but he doesn't dare let his coworkers know. Instead, he steals the card. Meanwhile, a new temp, Lisa joins the company, and Kenneth is immediately attracted to her. He's interpersonally inept however, and doesn't even try to approach her. In fact, he even objects when his boss (Rip Torn!) assigns them to work together on an upcoming project as soon as Kenneth finishes up the current one. As a release instead, Kenneth uses the bonus he earns from the first project to buy himself a doll.
Kenneth begins working closely with Lisa, trying to get her accostomed to their operating systems, and they start getting closer to one another and flirtier, much to the chagrin of the boss. Then one day, the doll arrives. Kenneth avoids an embarassing disaster when his nosey neighbor, the landlord (Udo Kier!) catches him having difficulty fitting the box through the door, but barely manages to avoid getting caught and labeled a perv. (In my opinion, Mr. Kier has no room to talk.)
The doll, named "Nikki" envigorates Kenneth's life. He starts working harder, living out new fantasies regularly with Nikki, and using her to subtly train himself to be more attractive to Lisa (Dancing lessons, confidence in conversation, etc). He then somehow convinces Lisa to get a makeover that results in her resembling Nikki. Yeah, all of a sudden this is getting unhealthy real fast. As he starts seeing more of Lisa, and spends less time with Nikki, he starts having paranoid delusions that Nikki is more alive than he thought, and jealous of him and Lisa. And by jealous, I mean Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction Jealous, not "take my ball and go home" jealous. Kenneth can't take it anymore, so he chops up Nikki and throws her away. It's as if a weight were lifted off of Kenneth's chest. Both he and Lisa get promotions, and the two also fully begin a real relationship. Things are great for Kenneth. But then one day Lisa accidently discovers the post card that Kenneth forgot to throw away. Oops. It doesn't take much time for her to figure out enough of what happened to be mad, and she storms out on him. At work. In front of everyone else. Sucks to be Kenneth. Well, all this naturally stresses out Kenneth's entire life. Things start falling apart left and right for him, including him getting fired from the company. He tries to buy another doll, but can't afford one anymore. Then one day, browsing the internet, he comes across step-by-step instructions on how to preserve a human body in latex and rubber, making them almost like a real doll. Kenneth now suddenly realizes how to deal with both his problems with Lisa, and his lack of a doll... This movie really isn't half bad. It has echos of the sort of story Hitchcock liked to make, with this fact most evident in the satisfying "twist" ending, and the subtle details, such as when Kenneth remakes Lisa to look like Nikki, echoing "Vertigo", though in a way no where near as blunt or domineering as the classic. |
RatingI give Love Object
Four Rotting Shambling Corpses out of Five. |