Who's
In It: Christopher Walken, Denis Leary, Henry Thomas, Jay Mohr, Johnny Galecki,
Sean Patrick Flanery and Jeremy Sisto Who Directed It: Peter O'Fallon
Suicide
Kings gets it’s name both from the sword-wielding playing card as well as
the perilous nature of the caper attempted by an ensemble of friends that includes
Henry Thomas, Jay Mohr, Johnny Galecki, Sean Patrick Flanery and Jeremy Sisto.
When Henry Thomas’ sister is kidnapped - the group of friends concoct a bold
(if not completely implausible) plan to kidnap a retired mob don (played as masterfully
as you might expect by Christopher Walken) in hopes that he can sniff out the
kidnappers and arrange the girls release using his network of underground contacts.
First of all, in order to enjoy this film you have to just accept this part of
the film as believable and go from there.
After
a harrowing, but successful snatch, the gang hole-up in a rich friends Ira’s
house whose parents are away on vacation. Johnny Galecki plays the unwitting Ira
as an uptight almost Radar O’Reilly nebbish and his is one of the best performances
of the film. With the exception of flashback sequences that begin to show us exactly
what’s behind all this business, much of the action centers around the boys
as they alternately cater to and threaten Christopher Walken who seems to be having
a good time both as the character and as the actor. This movie would actually
make as good a play as film, the only other significant out-of-house action is
Walken’s right-hand-man played by Denis Leary and his lacky as they set about
straightening this all out.
Leary
and his partner engage in some rather amusing wordplay that was undoubtedly inspired
by Pulp Fiction. There is also a few moments where we see the kidnappers a couple
of knuckle-headed thugs headed by Brad Garrett.
Meanwhile
back at the house, the gang has cut of one of Walken’s fingers in order to
prove the seriousness of their intentions - but it all starts to unravel as Walken
plants a seed of doubt among the gang that soon circulates and turns them on one
another in witch-hunt fashion. I won’t give anymore of the plot away, there
are some fairly interesting twists and turns as things pan out a bit differently
than we’re lead to believe.
As
for the movie, it’s compelling enough to hold your attention, thanks largely
to some pretty solid acting and of course the presence of the fingerless and cunning
Walken, but there is also an underlying amateur feel to the proceedings that shows
through from time to time. Suicide Kings is the feature film directorial debut
of Peter O'Fallon (a TV director of many “thirtysomething'' and ``Northern
Exposure'' episodes, and it shows. The film tries to be quirky and taut at the
same time, which it succeeds at occasionally, but overall it’s a little sloppy
and implausible, despite an interesting cast. Even though the ending is a twist
that is like something out of Wild Things, it’s not as strong as that film,
but it’s still a pretty fun ride. I guess what I’m trying to say is
wait for video.
