Waters gets uniformly bright performances from the large cast -- especially Christina Ricci as Pecker's girlfriend and Mary Kay Place as his mother -- and he succeeds in composing yet another twisted love letter to his home town.
80
Film ThreatRon Wells
Film ThreatRon Wells
Waters brilliantly skewers the pretensions of the New York art world and culture, and uses real people from that world in the process.
80
Film Threat
Film Threat
Sure, it's lighthearted fare, but that doesn't make it any less of a good film.
70
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
If scandal, sleaze, and celebrity worship are our national religion, then John Waters is an American prophet.
A pleasant but ephemeral spoof that may disappoint Waters' hard-core fans while not recruiting many new devotees.
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Waters follows these characters through their 15 minutes of fame without ever churning up very much interest in them.
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
We've come a long way from the filthiest people in the world: Who knew Waters could be so bland?
40
L.A. WeeklyManohla Dargis
L.A. WeeklyManohla Dargis
It's no doubt rude, and perhaps irrelevant, to point out that John Waters still doesn't know how to make a movie.
25
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Watching Pecker, his rickety new comedy about a teenage Baltimore shutterbug, it becomes clear that Waters has grown color-blind to his own sleazo-shock aesthetic.