Garmento
D: Michele Maher; with David Thornton, Katie MacNichol, Jerry Grayson, Saundra Santiago.
Narrative Feature, Special Screenings
Poncho Ramirez’s padded jock strap flopped. His name — which once graced the back pocket of every woman’s too-tight jeans — has become a punchline. That’s when Grindy Malone, small-town, starry-eyed ingénue, lands a job with Poncho Ramirez and turns that sucker around. Sure, it takes a little fraud and deception, but this is fashion, after all — fraud and deception are their bread and butter. Writer/director Michele Maher, who gathered her ammunition working in the New York fashion houses, has made a broad but fairly pedestrian satire of America’s real Evil Empire. Garmento‘s gags are amusing but dated (Poncho Ramirez reminded me most of Calvin Klein, with comic bits about over-the-top controversial ad campaigns and marketing Poncho’s name as his initials, PR), and the story itself — good girl seduced by bad people — isn’t much. Still, the fashion world could use a few solid punches, and every once in a while, Garmento lands a good one. — Sarah Hepola
This article appears in March 22 • 2002.
