Thinner

Rating:
Summary: If the makeup does not work, then this film cannot work
Review: "Thinner" is an adaptation of the novel Stephen King wrote as Richard Bachman that was almost on the charts on its own accord when his cover was blown. As was the case with a couple of other Bachman novels, the chapter titles were creatively the weight of the main character, lawyer Billy Halleck, whose loses a lot of weight as the result of a gypsy curse. Billy made the mistake of being distracted by his wife while driving and runs down an old gypsy woman. Her father touches Billy and utters a curse, "Thinner." Suddenly, Billy, who has had a growing weight problem, is losing pounds no matter how much food he stuffs into his face.

The problem with "Thinner" is one I associate with Steve Martin's idea of cat juggling. In his comedy act Martin would talk about being a cat juggler, which, if you picture in your mind's eye, is a pretty funny idea. But then in one of his films Martin tried to show cat juggling on screen and it just did not work. The same thing applies to what Robert John Burke has to go through playing Billy Halleck in this film in going from a character who weights 300 pounds to lone who dips under the 100 pound mark. Except for a few scenes in the film Burke always looks unreal to me. This is surprising because the make-up was done by Greg Cannom, who won Oscars for his work on "Bram Stoker's Dracula" and "Mrs. Doubtfire." So if Cannom could not pull this off, then it is likely nobody could have (The video includes a featurette on "The Magic of Special Effects Make-Up"). However, this still means that the transformation that the story rests on does not work. Like cat juggling, what sounds like a great and horrifying idea, does not translate convincingly to the screen.

Part of the problem is the voice Burke affects for this role keeps dispelling the illusion. It seems to me to be something of a "fat" voice, but the key thing is that it strikes me as being even more fake that the make-up. This is too bad because the rest of the performances in the film work pretty well, especially Joe Mantegna ("Searching for Bobby Fischer") as Richie Ginelli, the mobster client who comes to Billy's aid with great relish when the lawyer puts the Curse of the White Man from Town on the gypsies in an effort to get them to launch the curse. Michael Constantine ("My Big Fat Greek Wedding") has a memorable turn as the old gypsy, Tadzu Lempke, and Kari Wuhrer ("Eight Legged Freaks") plays his fiery granddaughter Gina Lempke. The screenplay by Michael McDowell and Tom Holland sticks pretty close to the original novel by King, who makes his traditional cameo appearance in the film early on. "Thinner" was actually filmed in Maine, which is rather atypical for a Stephen King film.

Rating:
Summary: If the makeup does not work, then this film cannot work
Review: "Thinner" is an adaptation of the novel Stephen King wrote as Richard Bachman that was almost on the charts on its own accord when his cover was blown. As was the case with a couple of other Bachman novels, the chapter titles were creatively the weight of the main character, lawyer Billy Halleck, whose loses a lot of weight as the result of a gypsy curse. Billy made the mistake of being distracted by his wife while driving and runs down an old gypsy woman. Her father touches Billy and utters a curse, "Thinner." Suddenly, Billy, who has had a growing weight problem, is losing pounds no matter how much food he stuffs into his face.

The problem with "Thinner" is one I associate with Steve Martin's idea of cat juggling. In his comedy act Martin would talk about being a cat juggler, which, if you picture in your mind's eye, is a pretty funny idea. But then in one of his films Martin tried to show cat juggling on screen and it just did not work. The same thing applies to what Robert John Burke has to go through playing Billy Halleck in this film in going from a character who weights 300 pounds to lone who dips under the 100 pound mark. Except for a few scenes in the film Burke always looks unreal to me. This is surprising because the make-up was done by Greg Cannom, who won Oscars for his work on "Bram Stoker's Dracula" and "Mrs. Doubtfire." So if Cannom could not pull this off, then it is likely nobody could have (The video includes a featurette on "The Magic of Special Effects Make-Up"). However, this still means that the transformation that the story rests on does not work. Like cat juggling, what sounds like a great and horrifying idea, does not translate convincingly to the screen.

Part of the problem is the voice Burke affects for this role keeps dispelling the illusion. It seems to me to be something of a "fat" voice, but the key thing is that it strikes me as being even more fake that the make-up. This is too bad because the rest of the performances in the film work pretty well, especially Joe Mantegna ("Searching for Bobby Fischer") as Richie Ginelli, the mobster client who comes to Billy's aid with great relish when the lawyer puts the Curse of the White Man from Town on the gypsies in an effort to get them to launch the curse. Michael Constantine ("My Big Fat Greek Wedding") has a memorable turn as the old gypsy, Tadzu Lempke, and Kari Wuhrer ("Eight Legged Freaks") plays his fiery granddaughter Gina Lempke. The screenplay by Michael McDowell and Tom Holland sticks pretty close to the original novel by King, who makes his traditional cameo appearance in the film early on. "Thinner" was actually filmed in Maine, which is rather atypical for a Stephen King film.

Rating:
Summary: Good, good, GOOD!
Review: A surprisingly good adaptation of King's early novel! In fact, among the TV movies - not cinema releases - based on his work, this is probably the best. Good acting, fair effects - with the amazingly convinving and the transformation of ultra-overweight Burke into an ultra-underweight one - good script, and skilled directing... What's more, this is one of those rare instances where, in some aspects, a movie turns out better than the book it was based on. I'm referring to the ending here - I liked the movie's ending MUCH better than the book's one, which I always found annoying. The film's version of the conclusion is, I would say, much more satisfying... >:)

Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: Awesome. Very scarry and suspensfu

Rating:
Summary: PRETTY BIG TO BE THIN:c)
Review: Enjoyed the movie. Teaches everyone to never underestimate anything someone else is capable of... especially if you don't know them.

Rating:
Summary: PRETTY BIG TO BE THIN:c)
Review: Enjoyed the movie. Teaches everyone to never underestimate anything someone else is capable of... especially if you don't know them.

Rating:
Summary: white man from town...
Review: Get outta town!! What starts off as a horror movie turns into an unintentional, hilarious comedy -- especially after the old gypsy woman gets hit. The characters are charicatures, cardboard stereotypes played for laughs. And I'm laughing. I think the makers of this movie said, "Screw it, we ain't deliverin anything near horror" and they made it for laughs. The lawyer is an arrogant fathead (literally) who, in one funny scene, shovels in a trainload of food, and mistakenly flirts with the fiercely vengeful Gypsy daughter who flips him off. I think gluttony is a theme running through King's imagination, like the blueberry pie puking kid in Stand by Me. Also, there's not enough of a payoff at the end, you want to see the effects of his revenge on the good doctor who's trying to cure him, but that's cut out. Well, they should cut out slices of pie instead of this movie.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty Good!
Review: I just read the book a few days ago and I thought the movie was pretty good. I was a little disappointed with the special effects. He didn't really look bad at all when he was supposed to be 120 lbs, most of the work must have went into making him look 300 lbs. Stephen King does make an appearance in the movie as a pharmacist. Not a waste of time or money!

Rating:
Summary: Not too bad, but the plots a bit thin!
Review: I saw this the other night on T.V. and as i'm a fan of Stephen King I felt I should watch this film. Unfortunately the plot is somewhat thin (excuse the pun) but its definately fun. Stephen King plays a cameo as a pharmacist as well. Not too bad but could have better. Also directed by Tom Holland (Psycho 2, Child's Play, Fright night 2)

Rating:
Summary: The film is incredibly tough to swallow.
Review: I think the thing that surprises me the most about Tom Holland's "Thinner" is that it was released theatrically. Based on the novel by the infamous horror writer Stephen King, this adaptation of one of his better-known books feels more like a direct-to-video release than a big-screen feature, with its low production values and overall cheap appearance. Having said that, the movie itself is entertaining to a point, after which, like many of King's novels (or movies based on them), it just flatlines.

The story centers around attorney Billy Halleck (Robert John Burke), whose string of successes have made him a name in his small town. He has a wife, Heidi (Lucinda Jenney), and a young daughter, both of whom have issues about his serious weight problems. "I can't stop thinking about food," he tells his wife in the car on the way home from a celebration dinner, to which she responds with A) the statement "There's more to life than just food," and B), a timely session of... well, you'll see.

Of course, during the "act," Billy fails to notice the old Gypsy woman crossing the street, and strikes her with his vehicle. Given his status among the townspeople (coupled with the fact that almost everyone we meet in the film is prejudiced against gypsies), Billy receives little more than a slap on the wrist, after which he is greeted by the dead woman's father (her father?), who brushes his cheek and chants the word "thinner."

Now I'm sure I don't have to tell you exactly what happens to Billy, who, despite his efforts to maintain a stable weight ("I'm digesting 12,000 calories a day!" he later tell his wife), loses 40 pounds in no more than two weeks. And the fat grams just keep flying, to the point where Heidi insists he check himself into a nearby male clinic, disbelieving of his theory that he has been cursed by the old gypsy man, whom he later sets out to find with the help of a vigilante he helped set free in a case.

If this all sounds rather hokey to you, that's because it is. The problem is, if my synopsis gives you this notion, then you're much better off leaving your experience with "Thinner" at this exposition, and avoiding the movie at all costs. Even for a Stephen King adaptation, the film is incredibly tough to swallow; the beginning and mid-section fares somewhat nicely, setting us up for a third act that showcases some nifty yet under-imagined make-up tricks (like we really couldn't guess that he was wearing a fat suit from the beginning), but fails in regards to giving us a sturdy conclusion that's worth waiting for.

Aside from the low-budget look of the film, there's not a great deal of commendable acting to be dealt with, either. Burke has some effective moments of biting humor, but he fails to register much in his confrontations with his wife, nor do we ever care much for him as a person wasting away as a result of his wrongdoing. The wife and child are basically stand-ins for those pesky times when the film needs some refreshment from slingshot-wielding gypsies and subplots involving two men who share a similar fate to Billy as a result of letting him go without punishment.

There is an intriguing premise underneath the mess that is "Thinner," but the story and its execution follow a pattern very much akin to its main character's descent from obesity.