Suicide Kings
Since 1994 a number of films have tried to imitate Pulp Fiction, with most of them falling way short of the mark. Suicide Kings is one of the few films that's been able to successfully achieve the complicated mix of dark humor, violence and witty dialogue that made Pulp Fiction so memorable. Although it's not as good as that film, it is still well worth watching.
Carlo Bartolucci (Christopher Walken) is a mob boss who has been kidnapped by a group of rich, overprivileged college-age kids that includes Avery (Henry Thomas), Max (Sean Patrick Flanery), Brett (Jay Mohr), and T.K. (Jeremy Sisto). They explain to Bartolucci that Avery's sister Lisa has been kidnapped and is being held for a $2 million ransom. Although Bartolucci is not responsible for her kidnapping, they figure that he can use his underworld connections to find the kidnappers and negotiate her release.
Bartolucci soon contacts his lawyer to find the kidnappers. Other subplots ensue as the lawyer searches for the kidnappers while Bartolucci's loyal henchman Lono Vecchio (Denis Leary) searches for where his boss is being held. Meanwhile, Bartolucci believes that Lisa's abduction was an inside job. Slowly, he mind-fucks his captors by turning them against each other. This evolves the story into a tense mystery. If it was an inside job, who did it and why?
O.K., is it just me or is kidnapping your local crime boss a really, really bad idea? From the beginning it's obvious that the boys did not exactly think their plan through too carefully. It's also obvious that they are out of their league with Bartolucci. Christopher Walken is probably the creepiest man alive, and he is brilliant as Bartolucci. Although he spends most of the movie tied into a chair, his street smarts and intuition let him outthink his captors and slowly bring dissent among the group.
Denis Leary also delivers a stellar performance as the hitman Vecchio. His conversation about boots is hilarious and reminiscient of the burger dialogue in Pulp Fiction. Another great scene is when he beats a man with a graphite golf club and then bitches afterwards about how steel clubs are better than graphite.
Vecchio is probably the most interesting character of the film. Although he is extremely violent and volatile, he also has a strange sense of charity and fairness. In one scene he gives a homeless man $500 and tells him that if he catches him panhandling again he'll shoot him (he means it). In another instance he tells an abusive father about how he dealt with his own abusive dad with a baseball bat and warns him, "If you touch that little girl again me and Mr. Mantle will be paying you a visit, my friend." When his warning falls on deaf ears he beats the man with a toaster.
Jason Galecki manages to steal a few scenes as the annoying and uptight Ira. He has been unwillingly brought into the kidnapping because his friends have duped him into using his parent's mansion to hold Bartocci ("A man tied to a chair …that's not poker"). As the tension escalates he provides comic relief by whining about how they are messing up his parent's home ("Who tracked mud across the floor?").
Overall, Suicide Kings is a very effective dark comedy. There are a few plot holes, and sometimes the movie seems uneven as if it's trying to decide whether or not it's a dark comedy or a mystery. The mystery element of the film is less effective with a few unnecessary twists and red herrings thrown out.
Suicide Kings is one of those underrated films that you don't really hear too much about. I only stumbled across it when a friend recommended it to me at the video store. It's one of those rare films that I didn't expect much from when I rented it, but was pleasantly surprised at how entertaining it was.
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If it wasn't for the kidnapping, it would be just a tense poker night with the boys. Nothing wrong with pounding back a few, but you may want to slow down near the end to make sense of the numerous plot twists and developments.
Much of this film is a sausagefest, but a minor romantic subplot develops later on. Even my wife liked it despite the excessive language and violence.
Buy this movie from Amazon.com
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2) Reservoir Dogs
