Mannequin, an effort at recreating the style of fantasy-tinged romantic comedies of the golden era is directed and co-written without wit, humor, or panache by Michael Gottlieb.
Andrew McCarthy stars as Jonathan Switcher, a department store window-dresser who discovers that one of his mannequins Emmy (Kim Cattrall) is actually a woman from ancient Egypt when she becomes animated one evening.
Emmy inspires him to become the most talented window-dresser around. Meanwhile a rival department store tries to drive the good guys out of business. Joining forces, the two store-crossed lovers must combat the forces of evil.
The script is bad and silly, but, surprisingly, Mannequin was a box-office hit
The secondary cast includes James Spader and Estelle Getty (a future star of TV’s popular series, “Golden Girls.”
Kim Cattral would become a popular TV actress in the late 1990s in the long running series, “Sex and the City.”
This film spawned an inferior sequel, Mannequin Two: On the Move.
Oscar Nominations: 1
The theme song, “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now,” was nominated for the Best Song Oscar.
Oscar Context:
The winner, however, was “I’ve Had the Time of My Life,” by Franke Previte, John DeNicola, and Donald Markowitz, from Dirty Dancing.
MPAA: PG.
Running time: 90 minutes.
Directed by Michael Gottlieb
Written by Ed Rugoff and Michael Gottlieb
Released: February 13, 1987.
DVD: December 26, 2001
Media Home Entertainment
