She’s an agoraphobic who lives alone in an apartment owned by her father, venturing out only to the local video store to rent soft-core porn films which she uses to pleasure herself.
He’s the video store clerk with his own emotional baggage, who unaccountably falls for her despite her hostility, anger and bizarre behaviour.
These misfits are at the centre of Good Dick, a quirky dramedy from first-time writer-director Marianna Palka. Belying the coarse title – Dick refers to the male member, not someone’s name – the movie has some charming, tender and funny moments and is capably acted, but too often defies logic.
Palka plays the un-named woman and Jason Ritter is her suitor, also un-named. Initially she rebuffs his attempts to get to know her, at one point waving a knife at him. She softens slightly after he gives her a crucifix to 'keep you safe," and agrees to let him watch videos with her on two conditions: He mustn’t talk or 'get a boner.’
He persists, cooking meals for her, washing her hair and platonically sharing her bed, but she insists 'I don’t give a shit about you." While most blokes would run a mile, he declares his love for her. Eventually we discover why she has such intimacy issues and why he’d been sleeping in his car, but the resolution of this seemingly doomed relationship isn’t convincing.
Interspersed with their fighting and bickering are ribald conversations between the guy and his video store mates. Despite the two leads’ solid performances, it’s difficult to see why he’s so ardent about a woman with obvious hang-ups who’s so disdainful, or why she warms to a guy she accurately describes as 'whiny, clingy and annoying."
Given that Palka and Ritter have been an off-screen couple since 1999, they don’t show much chemistry on screen.
