Good Dick

Good Dick is not porn—in fact, it’s a love story. You could call it a romantic comedy, but by “romantic comedy” I mean the polar opposite; there’s not much romance and its comedy leans more towards the dark side. Yet the central theme is certainly a romantic one. Written, directed, and produced by Marianna Palka, who also stars in it, Good Dick proves to be a fascinating and complex cinematic work. 

The romantic couple is a pair of odd characters drawn together by movies. Both remain nameless throughout the movie. “The girl” is severely introverted; she lives a lonely life of seclusion and rejects all types social interaction. “The boy” is a video clerk with a history of addiction behind him; he’s also homeless, and living in his car. Somehow he sees through her uncanny exterior and manages to get close to her, starting their odd relationship. She rejects the emotional support he offers, verbally abuses him and refuses to have a physical relationship with him, yet his persistence does not falter, even when it appears that it should. 

Although Good Dick is not a pornographic movie, there’s plenty of explicit talk from the characters, and it is ultimately by watching porn together that the couple bonds. The movie is about everything but pornography, and it merely gives way for the complex levels of their relationship to unwrap. These are not likeable characters; both are damaged individuals, and although it is not clear where their affections surge from, the chemistry lingering between is enough to not question it. Some scenes lend themselves to awkwardness, content wise, yet they are appropriate to explain the characters backgrounds. 

“The girl” whose character’s development was the main focus of the relationship comes with terms of her past in order to face her present (“the boy”). Good Dick is not a movie about sex; companionship is what holds the core of it. At the end, it is fascinating to see how Marianna Palka uses pornography to create an honest story that yields to an unconventionally romantic one.

•