THINNER
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1996 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 4.0 Alternative Scale: ** out of ****
United States, 1996 U.S. Release Date: 10/25/96 (wide) Running Length: 1:32 MPAA Classification: R (Violence, profanity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Robert John Burke, Joe Mantegna, Lucinda Jenney, Michael Constantine, Kari Wuhrer, Joy Lenz Director: Tom Holland Producers: Richard P. Rubinstein and Mitchell Gatlin Screenplay: Michael McDowell and Tom Holland based on the novel by Stephen King Cinematography: Kees Van Oostrum Music: Daniel Licht U.S. Distributor: Paramount Pictures
It's always good around Halloween to have one really bad horror movie to look forward to. Alas, this year's lone October horror release, THINNER, falls considerably short of the level of awfulness established by last year's HALLOWEEN 6. While this latest adaptation of a Stephen King novel doesn't approach "good" film making, it's at least watchable (if just barely) -- a quality that no one would ascribe to the most recent chapter of the unbearably moronic Michael Myers saga.
There are two kinds of movies based on Stephen King stories -- the dramas (STAND BY ME, THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION) and the horrors (PET SEMATARY, THE MANGLER). In general, the former are quite good while the latter are terrible. So, since THINNER falls somewhere between genres, it's fitting that the film's quality is also somewhere in the middle. THINNER is a rather shallow and unsatisfactory examination of some potentially-worthwhile themes and ideas. Equally unfortunately, it's not at all scary.
The film opens in Fairview, Connecticut, where attorney Billy Halleck (Robert John Burke) is the toast of his law firm, having just won the acquittal of mobster Richie Ginelli (Joe Mantegna, sporting a chic beard). On the personal front, however, Billy is having far less success in his war against weight. He's tipping the scales at 300 pounds, and his habit of sneaking snacks is defeating his latest diet. His wife, Heidi (Lucinda Jenny), and daughter, Linda (Joy Lenz), despair of him ever losing the undesirable mass, and they're seriously concerned about his health.
Then, one night, while Billy is driving through town, he accidentally hits and kills a gypsy woman. With the connivance a couple of friends -- a cop and a judge -- Billy escapes without being charged. But the dead woman's father, the gypsy king Tadzu Lempke (Michael Constantine), curses Billy to become thinner. Suddenly, he's losing weight at the rate of three pounds a day. For a while, this is a boon, but, as his physique goes from bulky to normal to emaciated, he becomes panicky, crying out, "I'm being erased!" (Maybe he should consult with Arnold Schwarzenegger, star of this summer's ERASER.) And, as his body wastes away, his life begins to collapse. Soon, his wife is trying to have him committed, and Billy is forced to enlist Richie's help in delivering a curse of his own upon the gypsies.
THINNER could have been an opportunity to examine the ethics of a slick lawyer who refuses to accept responsibility for his actions. Billy successfully defends guilty clients and uses friendships to escape manslaughter charges, thinking that nothing can touch him. But justice is waiting, although it has nothing to do with the law. Unfortunately, questions of morality are of secondary importance to a film that emphasizes its DEATH WISH aspects. The most energetic parts of THINNER are those that focus on Billy's revenge, and this is no accident.
The makeup that transforms 175-pound Robert John Burke into his 300-pound character is embarrassingly unconvincing, especially in the wake of the much better job done to expand Eddie Murphy's waistline in THE NUTTY PROFESSOR. It looks like Burke is wearing latex strips on his face and rubber padding under his clothing, which, of course, is exactly what he's doing. For that matter, the prosthetics on Michael Constantine and several other actors don't look all that impressive, either.
On top of its other problems, THINNER is too long. There's not enough story here for a forty-five minute motion picture, not to mention something twice that length. As a result, there's a lot of pointless running around, a protracted dream sequence, and some meaningless "character building" scenes that don't build anything. The movie drags through the middle part, only jumping to life when Joe Mantegna's character comes on the scene and starts getting violent. On the whole, though, a slimmer running time, not to mention an astute script, would have made THINNER go down a lot more smoothly.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
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