Thinner: Difference between revisions

 

Obese lawyer Billy Halleck, charged with vehicular manslaughter after killing an old Gypsy woman, is acquitted thanks to his connection with the judge. As he leaves the courthouse, the 106-year-old father of the woman places a curse on him that causes him to rapidly lose weight. After learning that the Gypsy placed a curse on the judge (making him grow hideous scales on his face) and his other friend, a cop that lied on the stand to aid him (leaving his face pockmarked with huge zits), Halleck enlists the help of a former client and mob boss to terrorize the Gypsy to lift his curse.

 

Made into a movie in 1996 with Robert John Burke as Halleck, Joe Mantegna as the mob boss, and Kari Wurhrer as a Gypsy (the ancient one's great-granddaughter, to be precise).

 

* [[Arc Words]]: After the old gypsy derisively calls Halleck "White Man from Town", he uses the phrase to intimidate them into taking the curse off.

* [[Asshole Victim]]: Halleck, the judge and the cop.

* [[Auto Erotica]]: Halleck hit the old woman because his wife was giving him a handjob while he was driving.

* [[Celebrity Paradox]]: Halleck's doctor tells him at one point that he's "starting to sound a little like a Stephen King novel". (King originally published that book under his [[Pen Name]] Richard Bachman, and made this reference to throw people off.)

* [[Creator Cameo]]: [[Stephen King]] appears as Dr. Bangor, who owns the pharmacy outside where the accident happened.

* [[Driven to Suicide]]: The judge and the cop eventually both kill themselves. {{spoiler|So does Halleck at the end, probably}}.

* [[Fat Bastard]]: [[Deconstructed Trope|Deconstructed.]] Billy Halleck is a seemingly nice guy with a good marriage and is a doting father (his daughter in fact prefers Billy to her mother). However, he is clearly aware of his firm's tie to [[The Mafia]], and is in fact good friends with a man who may be the head of the local mob family. After the accident, he doesn't deliberately use his connections to get him out of trouble, but he does nothing to dissuade them either. [[Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped|There is blame enough to go around, but no one is willing to accept the consequences for their actions.]]

* [[A Friend in Need]]: When his wife fails to believe he is cursed (and in fact conspires with a local doctor to commit him to a Mental Institution should he return home), Billy turns to [[The Don|Richie Ginelli]], a Mafioso who he is acquainted with. Richie sends Billy a doctor, then shows up himself to wreck havoc on the Gypsies until the they agree to lift the curse. {{spoiler|He dies for his troubles, but accepted that fact beforehand.}}

* [[Gypsy Curse]]: Three, to be precise: The titular one, the "lizard" one on the judge, and the mega-acne one on the cop.

** He probably should have stuck to [[Criminal Minds|helping track down Un-Subs.]]

* [[Hot Gypsy Woman]]: Gina Lemke is one. Kari Wuhrer plays her in the film.

** The movie pushes it towards a [[Cruel Twist Ending]] with the added subplot of {{spoiler|Dr. Mikey, who Halleck suspects his wife is cheating on him with. After the original ending, he's just about to tuck in to a piece of pie, Dr. Mikey knocks on the door...and he invites him in for a piece of pie.}}

* [[The Mafia]]: Halleck's friend, Richard Ginelli is an Italian mob boss, who uses his connections to terrorize the Gypsies.

* [[Never My Fault]]: Billy Halleck blames everybody but himself for his having run Susanna Lemke over, including Susanna herself.

* [[Playing Gertrude]]: Irma St. Paule, who played the woman Halleck runs over in the film, was one year older than Michael Constantine, the actor who played her father. (Of course, it is hard to find 106-year-old actors, and the guy isn't supposed to look 106.)

 

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[[Category:Thinner]]