Life Without Dick

• Director: Bix Skahill
• AMG Rating:
• Genre: Comedy
• Movie Type: Romantic Comedy, Black Comedy
• Themes: Going Straight, Unlikely Criminals, Hired Killers
• Main Cast: Teri Garr, Claudia Schiffer, Sarah Jessica Parker, Harry Connick, Jr., Johnny Knoxville
• Release Year: 2001
• Country: US
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• MPAA Rating: PG13

Plot

Can a woman find happiness with the thug she hired to murder her significant other? That's the 64,000-dollar question in this dark romantic comedy. Colleen (Sarah Jessica Parker) is a woman who is not at all happy with her boyfriend Dick (Johnny Knoxville) -- so unhappy, in fact, that she decides to hire Daniel (Harry Connick, Jr.), a hit man, in order to put him out of her life (and everyone else's) once and for all. However, as Colleen negotiates the killing with Daniel, she grows fond of the hired killer, and begins to sense that murder isn't his true calling. Daniel confesses that Colleen is right -- he loves to sing, and wants to put his execution contracts behind him so he can find work as a crooner. Colleen eagerly offers to manage Daniel's musical career, and he agrees to the offer, but there's a catch -- he'll need someone to help him wrap up his last few killings before he can pursue music full time. Life Without Dick also stars Craig Ferguson, Teri Garr, and Claudia Schiffer. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Review

This is what happens when you prop a full-length feature on a double entendre meant for giggles. Or it could just be the ceiling for material written and directed by a guy named Bix. Sarah Jessica Parker slums it up good and spoils her hiatus from Sex and the City to star in Life Without Dick, which also allows Harry Connick Jr. to remind us he once had a singing career. Bix Skahill is the aforementioned Bix in charge of this straight-to-video absurdist romantic comedy, and his rawness seeps through every shot. On charisma alone Parker and Connick make certain moments work, but there's only so much they can do with an accidental boyfriend-killer who falls for a gunshy hitman, and then starts subbing for him. This stuff needs the circus-like mania of Danny Boyle's A Life Less Ordinary to have even a shot at working, but it's as straight-faced and withdrawn as a lighthearted comedy can get. The only characters to get off some good lines are a pair of oblivious detectives (Geoffrey Blake and John Eddins) who owe a debt of gratitude to Joe Friday for their deadpan rapport. Bix Skahill's credentials aside, there was in fact some talent behind the camera in the form of executive producer Illeana Douglas, the indie film character actor. But her more unchecked instincts apparently dominated here, resulting in something of a conundrum: boring quirkiness. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide

Cast

• Sarah Jessica Parker
• Harry Connick, Jr.
• Johnny Knoxville

Teri Garr; Claudia Schiffer; John Henson; Kate Flannery

Credit

Bix Skahill - Director, Happy Walters - Producer, Matthew Weaver - Producer, Emily Stevens - Producer, Bix Skahill - Screenwriter

Similar Movies

Faithful; Grosse Pointe Blank; The Mexican; The Matador; Wish You Were Dead; 100 Ways to Murder Your Wife; Life in the Fast Lane

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