Thinner (film)

Thinner
Promotional film poster
Directed by	Tom Holland
Produced by	Mitchell Galin Richard P. Rubinstein
Screenplay by	Michael McDowell Tom Holland
Based on	Novel: Stephen King
Starring	Robert John Burke Joe Mantegna Lucinda Jenney Bethany Joy Lenz Michael Constantine Kari Wührer
Music by	Daniel Licht
Cinematography	Kees Van Oostrum
Editing by	Marc Laub
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures (US theatrical) Lions Gate Entertainment (current US video distributor)
Release date(s)	October 25, 1996 (USA)
Running time	92 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$14,000,000 (estimated)
Box office	$15,315,484 (domestic)

Thinner is a 1996 American horror film directed by Tom Holland and written by Michael McDowell with the screenplay by Tom Holland. The film is based on the Stephen King novel of the same name.

Plot

Billy Halleck is an arrogant, obese upper-class lawyer living in suburban Maine. One day, while driving, he accidentally runs over an old Gypsy woman with his car when his wife distracts him by performing oral sex on him. The Gypsy woman's father, 106-year old Tadzu Lempke ("Taduz Lemke" in the book), curses Billy by touching his face and saying the word, "Thinner". The curse causes Billy to lose weight rapidly, regardless of how much he eats. The old man also curses two of Billy's close friends who helped him avoid punishment for the Gypsy woman's death. Later, one of them starts turning into a lizard; the other becomes mutated with oversized pimples and commits suicide.

Because only Lempke can remove the curse, Billy must persuade the ancient Gypsy to lift the curse. He flees his family when they disbelieve the curse and insist he seek psychiatric help. Lempke is unmoved and has his great-granddaughter shoot Halleck with a slingshot. As his family grows frantic, he enlists the help of a friend, an underworld crime boss by the name of Richie "The Hammer" Ginelli. Richie pays someone to track down the gypsies for him. Richie kills off the camp dogs with poison, and leaves a note saying "WHITE MAN FROM TOWN SAYS TAKE IT OFF." The gypsies find the man who tracked them down and kill him, and vandalize Billy's car. Richie turns up the heat and kills one gypsy at the camp, then poses as an FBI agent to lure Lempke's great-granddaughter away from the group. Billy stops Richie from killing her. Richie threatens the girl with acid and gives her a message for her great-grandfather: meet them at the lighthouse.

Lempke arrives at the meeting, convinced that only by lifting the curse can he prevent further attacks on his people. He explains to Halleck that he cannot remove the curse, but it can be transferred to another victim. This is to be done by mixing Halleck's blood into a pie which must then be consumed by an unsuspecting person, causing painful but rapid death. Lempke urges Billy to end the curse and commit suicide with dignity by eating the pie. However, Billy believes that his wife has been cheating on him during his ordeal, so he leaves the pie out for her to eat. The next morning he wakes up to find her disfigured corpse next to him in bed. Initially gleeful to be free of the curse and of his disloyal wife, he finds to his horror that his daughter has also eaten a slice. His guilt compels him to "die with dignity" and eat a piece as well. Before he can do so, a local doctor (whom he suspects as his wife's lover) arrives at the door. The doctor immediately suspects something is wrong and attempts to leave. However, Billy invites the man in to share the pie with him.

Cast

• Robert John Burke — Billy Halleck
• Joe Mantegna — Richie Ginelli
• Lucinda Jenney — Heidi Halleck
• Michael Constantine — Tadzu Lempke
• Kari Wührer — Gina Lempke
• Bethany Joy Lenz — Linda Halleck
• Daniel von Bargen - Chief Duncan Hopley
• Time Winters — Prosecutor
• Howard Erskine — Judge Phillips
• Terrence Garmey — Bailiff
• Randy Jurgensen — Court Clerk
• Jeff Ware — Max Duggenfield
• Antonette Schwartzberg — Mama Ginelli
• Terence Kava — Gabe Lempke
• Adriana Delphine — Gypsy Woman
• Ruth Miller — Billy's Secretary

Critical reception

Thinner received generally negative reviews from critics. The film holds a rating of 17% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 18 reviews. James Berardinelli gave the film two stars out of four, writing: "Thinner could have been an opportunity to examine the ethics of a slick lawyer who refuses to accept responsibility for his actions. ... Unfortunately, questions of morality are of secondary importance to a film that emphasizes its Death Wish aspects." Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a D rating, writing: "Like too many Stephen King movies, Thinner is all (emaciated) concept and no follow-through." A more positive review came from Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle, who called Thinner "one of the better Stephen King-derived movies."

External links

• Thinner at the Internet Movie Database
• Thinner at AllRovi