Product Details

• Actors: Cillian Murphy, Susan Sarandon, Ellen Page, Bill Pullman, Keith Carradine
• Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Lions Gate
• DVD Release Date: April 20, 2010
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0037E8HOC
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #104,621 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Peacock" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Director David Lander's Peacock comes off like a combination of Psycho, Sybil, and David Lynch--a rather unholy alliance, but one that certainly makes for compelling viewing. At the heart of this 2010 film, which inexplicably bypassed theaters and went directly to the home-video market, is a character named John Skillpa (Cillian Murphy), a clerk in a Peacock, Nebraska, bank in the 1950s whose mother issues rival Norman Bates's; his recently deceased mom's abuse has left John so peculiar (when it comes to social interactions, this guy makes the Unabomber look well-adjusted) that he has donned a dress, a wig, and makeup and created an entirely separate personality. No one in the sleepy little town knows about "Emma," as "she" calls herself, until a train derailment results in a caboose landing in John's backyard. When neighbors come to check it out, they discover Emma and quickly assume she's John's wife. What's more, a lot of folks, including the mayor (Keith Carradine), who's also John's boss, and his wife (Susan Sarandon), who runs a local women's shelter, as well as both the U.S. Senator running for reelection and his opponent, are determined to make political hay out of the accident. Things quickly become problematic for John, to say the least, as he begins a torturous balancing act that becomes increasingly difficult to maintain. And wait, there's more: dear old Mom also forced John to have sex with a local girl of dubious morals (Juno's Ellen Page), who then gave birth to a son. John, not surprisingly, becomes nuttier and nuttier as the complications pile up. But Emma goes the other way; initially terrified and painfully introverted, she gradually blossoms in inverse proportion to John's weirdness, until she finally devises a plan to put an end to this insane conflict. (The film depends on Murphy's ability to convincingly portray two distinct personalities inhabiting the same body, and he is up to the task; indeed, he makes us believe that neither John nor Emma really knows what the other is thinking or doing.) With a passel of bonus features, including a making-of doc and a look at Murphy's preparations for his role, Peacock is an interesting journey off the beaten path. --Sam Graham

Stills from Peacock (Click for larger image)

Product Description

John Skillpa, a quiet bank clerk living in tiny Peacock, Nebraska, prefers to live an invisible life. Then, in a moment, everything changes. A train caboose runs off its tracks and crashes into John’s backyard and destroys more than the weathered planks of his wood fence. When neighbors descend on the scene, they discover John’s other personality, Emma, for the first time and mistakenly believe her to be John’s wife. This launches John into the glare of the spotlight and eventually shatters the delicate balance of his sanity.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Way Off Beat April 23, 2010

By Eric Sanberg

Format:DVD

As you can see by the previous reviews, the opinions are greatly varied. They all have merit but I have to say I liked it more than I didn't like it.

As for the issue of multiple or fractured personalities, I don't have the expertise to say whether or not they exist, but it is the crux of this film so, depending on your views on the matter, you may need to suspend your disbelief.

Yes. You get, right off the bat, the strong connection to Psycho. Abused son plus dead mom equals crazy son. This son, played by Cillian Murphy will make or break this one for you. Susan Sarandon is present but she's doing what she can with a rather small part. Bill Pullman seems unnecessarily weird and Ellen Page does a very good job even though she's only in a couple of scenes. This is Murphy's movie. The way he plays the parts of John and Emma, I felt, were tremendous. He's screwed up and trapped in a self imposed prison. Through a trick of fate he almost finds a way out through his alter ego Emma. But you see the torment in him and you realize how precarious the situation is. One false move and the whole thing comes crashing down.

The writer/director Michael Lander ripped a couple of pages out of the David Lynch book of film making but as I tend to like Lynch, I wasn't at all bothered. It's a good idea for a movie and all aspects of the production are professional. The soundtrack is way cool and the bones don't show. This is a good, solid, imaginative film. It clocks in at 90 minutes so it won't tax your patience.

But beware. This is not for the casual viewer. If you're into popcorn kind a flix this may not be your cup of tea. If way off beat films are your poison, give it a shot.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Academy nominee for leading actor May 3, 2010

By Geraldine Richardson

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

The plot of the movie is a dark pscychological thriller without your usual graphic gore and expected hollywood shocker ending. The story deals with an alter ego or split personality in a man that was abused as a child by his mother. Murphy's performance as Emma is superb. He makes you believe you are watching the transformation of a beautiful, shy and soft spoken woman into a secure, assertive one. I cannot think of any other actor who could have pulled this off as beautifully as he did, since he does have an incredible talent and androgynous features with wig and drag. If you want to watch a great and unique performance, you wont be disappointed.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The life of a split personality in a small town is suddenly derailed June 10, 2010

By Lawrance M. Bernabo HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

We see a woman busy doing her chores one morning, the last of which is to make a sandwich and leave a note on top of it. Then she goes into the bedroom, takes off the wig she is wearing, and the next thing we know we are watching John get dressed for work. "Peacock" might be a title meant to symbolize the main character played by Cillian Murphy, but it turns out to be the name of the town in which John Skillpa and his alter-ego Emma are living their quiet but divided life. It turns out that John is a momma's boy raised by a not so nice mother. She always took care of him and in the wake of her death "Emma" arrived to take momma's place. The arrangement works quite nicely. John goes off to his dull job in the basement of the town bank, eats the lunch Emma made for him, and dutifully picks up things at the store as instructed by her note. Everything is working fine, and then one day, as Emma is hanging up the laundry, a caboose from a passing train ends up in the front yard. To say that things will never be the same again for John and Emma is a gross understatement. Neighbors meeting Emma assume she is John's wife, the owner of the bank (Keith Carradine) is running for mayor and sends his wife (Susan Sarandon) to set up an event on John's front lawn, and then there is Maggie (Ellen Page), a call girl who Emma learns had been receiving money from John's mother. Curiouser and curiouser.

I checked out "Peacock" because it had Ellen Page in it, and after "Hard Candy," "An American Crime," and "Juno," I am interested in seeing anything she happens to be doing. I had never heard of the movie before it showed up in our local Redbox, because for some reason it never received a general release despite the notable cast (which also includes Bill Pullman and Josh Lucas), and when I poked around to find out more about the film I found several suggestions that "Peacock" is a horror film, a label that I do not really find appropriate, despite what the obvious allusions to "Psycho" might suggest. Director Michael Lander, who also co-wrote the film with Ryan O Roy, calls it "an internalized psychological horror film," and that is certainly on the mark. John wants his life back, while Emma is finding that she might actually have a life. The question at the core of this 2010 film is what John and Emma are going to do about each other. As the film's tag line puts it, "If only he knew what she was doing." Your feeling is that things are going to end badly, but you want to hold on to hope because John has clearly been victimized by his dead mommy dearest.

As you would suspect, Murphy makes a decent enough looking woman, but there are times when you find it hard to believe that nobody in town picks up on the fact she is a he. That being said, the plight of his characters is enough to find yourself caught up in his quickly deteriorating situation. The story is set in rural Nebraska in the 1950s, when quirky neighbors were more readily accepted and the idea of a local transvestite would never occur to anyone, even if they had been to the big city (which would have been Lincoln). "Peacock" is an interesting little film, where you will find yourself curious to see how it plays out. The special features on the CD consist of four brief deleted scenes, a 20-minute featurette about making the film, and an alternative ending. As a general rule I abhor alternative endings because I like filmmakers to have the courage of their convictions for the story they are telling (Imagine alternative endings for "Gone With the Wind" or "Casablanca" and try not to throw up), and I have to say in this case the seeing the other ending only confirms my feeling for the original conclusion because I liked the way things played out with all the attendant irony. The alternative ending is arguably more ambiguous, but with this particular narrative letting things play out to a conclusion that is no less tragic hits the right final note for me.