Satires are not always comedies, just like comedies are not always satires. Examples: "Robocop", "District 9", "Starship Troopers", "Stepford Wives" ...these are all brilliant satires; yet they are not comedies.I think it's misleading for Pumpkin to be advertised as a comedy. Sure, it's packed full of subtle humour, but like the films I mentioned above, its intent is probably not to make us laugh out loud. Its intent is to give us an offbeat look at society without taking itself too seriously. So if you go into this film expecting something "HYSTERICALLY FUNNY" (says the Washington Post), you might be disappointed.Another caveat: this film is not about disabled people--not like, say, "Shine" or "My Left Foot". True, the plot is about a sorority girl who gets into an "inappropriate" relationship with a mentally challenged boy, but that's just a metaphor for what the film is really hitting us with. The film simply uses this metaphor to illustrate the screwed-up norms of human society. Pay attention early on to the speech Christina Ricci gives about how sororities & fraternities end up dividing us, labeling us and creating differences where none really exist. I believe that encapsulates what this film is trying to tell us about our world, and you'll realize it's a lot more than just a romantic comedy.In order to fully appreciate this film, you CANNOT take anything at face value. Everything ...even the wooden acting or the melodramatic pill scene or the exploding car (lol)... is designed to be over-the-top, showing us a bizarre world and giving a little wink to the audience. Almost every scene will have you wondering if the filmmakers were being ironic, and that's the beauty of unravelling a film such as this. It's very subtle but well executed, almost like Hitchcock's brand of humour in Strangers on a Train which, similarly, pokes fun at the veneer of polite society hiding the screwed-uppedness beneath (in fact, "Pumpkin" has a tennis scene that's reminiscent of the tennis scene in the "Strangers").I'm not sure if everyone will like Pumpkin but I sure did. If you're a fan of the 4 satires I mentioned in my 1st paragraph, I think you'll like it. If so, I highly recommend the Mexican film "Casi Divas" (2008) about a cut-throat talent competition, and the Spanish movie "El Crimen Ferpecto" (2004) about a man trapped in a department store overnight. Along with "Pumpkin", these are light-hearted gems that make us think hard about the human condition. Oh don't forget "Heathers" (1988) which fits right in with the bunch, though a bit on the darker side.

This is one of those films that I can watch a thousand times and never tire of. Yes, the story is crazy, the characters ridiculous, but in the world of this film, everything is perfect. Caroline McDuffy has the perfect life. She's from a rich family, in college in a top sorority, dating the school hunk, and has a perfect blonde flip. Her biggest concern is winning sorority of the year. Well, until she meets Pumpkin, and her life is turned up-side down. It's a beautiful story of how falling in love with someone you never expected could turn your whole life around. There are also some classic lines from this film... "How retarded are we talking here?" "Retarded, retarded."

This thing should be an embarrassment to all involved. It is almost as if it was intentionally horrible.It is difficult to list each and every way this was an utter waste of time, even as it was on in the background on a cable channel that is paid for no matter what it shows.If you are considering actually spending money or time on this, do yourself a favor, take a few hours throwing pennies, slowly, one-by-one, into a wishing well, hoping it is never aired again under any circumstances, other than in Gitmo.Unless you are the world's greatest drooling Ricci fan, make time to avoid this.

Movie starts out on a fairly even, believable keel and then subtly skews into some alternate universe. Believable, I guess due to the proliferation of chicks flicks, is the stereotype of the white girl with the 'perfect'life boyfriend etc whose greatest challenge in life is winning some sorority award. Unbelievable is the transition to self-discovery via a relationship that develops with a mentally challenged guy who does little more than stare at her initially. The girl's character fills in much of the formation of the relationship as though it were all happening in her head and the challenged character seems to comply and follow through independently. A key question is asked seemly innocently and then revisited at the movie's end "Caroline why does the moon ..change..?" Caroline asks in the end if pumpkin meant it literally or metaphorically to which he gives the audience's collective "What!?!?" reply. Not so much that the question is not understood but one is left wondering what that had to do with the overall message of the movie. It was as if to suggest that there be no real tangible reason why things happen the way they do.It is a touching movie, it is nice to believe that good things can happen to all people. I just think that the way it is told is a disservice to the audience.