Thinner (film)

Infobox_Film
name = Thinner


caption = "Thinner" cover
writer = Stephen King (novel)
Michael McDowell and
Tom Holland (screenplay)
starring = Robert John Burke
Joe Mantegna
Lucinda Jenney
Bethany Joy Lenz
Michael Constantine
Kari Wührer
director = Tom Holland
music = Daniel Licht
cinematography = Kees Van Oostrum
editing = Marc Laub
producer = Mitchell Galin
Richard P. Rubinstein
distributor = Paramount Pictures (US theatrical)
Lions Gate Entertainment (current US video distributor)
released = October 25, 1996 (USA)
runtime = 92 minutes
language = English
budget = $14,000,000 (estimated)
gross = $15,171,475 (USA)
amg_id = 1:136684
imdb_id = 0117894

"Thinner" is a 1996 horror film directed by Tom Holland and written by Stephen King (novel), Michael McDowell and Tom Holland (screenplay).

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
*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

Plot

Billy Halleck is an arrogant obese upper-class lawyer who lives in suburban Connecticut. One day while driving, he accidentally runs over an old Gypsy woman with his car when his wife distracts him by giving him a blow job. The Gypsy woman's father, Tadzu Lempke, who is 106 years old, curses Billy by touching him and saying, "Thinner." The curse causes Billy to lose weight rapidly, regardless of how much he eats.

Because only Lempke can remove the curse since he put it on, Billy must persuade the ancient Gypsy to lift the curse with the help of his friend, an underworld crime boss by the name of Richie "The Hammer" Ginelli. Ginelli decided to cause raucous among the gypsies camps by killing one of them and almost killing another. Each time he leaves a note saying "WHITE MAN FROM TOWN SAYS TAKE IT OFF". It's a desperate race for survival; time is running out for Billy as he becomes even thinner, and draws closer to his own death.

Ultimately Lempke is persuaded to alter the curse. However he explains that he cannot remove it but only transfer it, and does so to a pie. The curse is transferred such that anyone who consumes it will die a horribly painful death. Lempke begs him to end the curse and die with dignity, by eating his own pie. Wanting revenge on his wife for supposedly cheating on him, Billy leaves the pie out for her to eat. The next morning he wakes up to find his dead wife next to him in bed. After going downstairs gleefully, he finds that his daughter has also eaten a slice, much to his horror. Feeling guilty about the whole ordeal, he decides to have one as well. Before he can take the first bite, he's interrupted by a ring of the doorbell. At the door is the man he believes his wife had the affair with; he invites the man in for a piece of pie, and the movie cuts out.

Trivia

* Author Stephen King, who lives in Bangor, Maine, appears as the pharmacist Dr. Bangor.
* The movie was filmed largely in Camden and Rockland, Maine. These towns are about an hours drive from King's home in Bangor, Maine.
* The gypsy family name is Lemke in some Portuguese versions of the story.
* In Adam Sandler's movie Mr. Deeds, the main character, Longfellow Deeds, recounts how Stephen King visited his hometown. Deeds claims that King looked at the gas station attendant and the next day he lost over 200 pounds, a likely reference to Thinner.

External links

*imdb title|id=0117894|title=Thinner