Dominick and Eugene

Dominick and Eugene
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Robert M. Young
Produced by	Mike Farrell Marvin Minoff
Starring	Ray Liotta Tom Hulce Jamie Lee Curtis
Distributed by	Orion Pictures
Release date(s)	December 23, 1988 (1988-12-23)
Running time	111 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Dominick and Eugene is a 1988 American drama film directed by Robert M. Young about twin brothers, Dominick and Eugene. Dominick has an intellectual disability due to an accident in his youth. The film was directed by Robert M. Young, and stars Ray Liotta, Tom Hulce, and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Hulce received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance (Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama).

Plot

Dominick "Nicky" (Hulce) and Eugene "Gino" (Liotta) Luciano are twin brothers living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Nicky has a learning disability from his youth and Gino takes care of him and helps him get through life. Gino is studying to become a doctor at a local hospital and cannot finish his education in Pittsburgh; he is afraid that Nicky cannot take care of himself and that he depends on Eugene to look after him. Nicky has a job working for a garbage collection company, a job that supports his brother's education. He and a man named Larry (Todd Graff) work for Mr. Johnson (Bill Cobbs). Larry is Nicky's best friend, albeit a bit of a wiseacre who constantly puts wild ideas into Nicky's mind.

Eugene begins helping a nurse named Jennifer (Curtis), who is working at the same hospital where he is, to study for her exams. He begins to develop feelings for her as the movie progresses. Nicky mentions this to Larry while they are working and Larry does not miss the opportunity to plant the idea in Nicky's head that Jennifer and Eugene are sleeping together.

On the night of his and Nicky's birthday, Eugene must work late at the hospital and calls a very disappointed Nicky to tell him. Nicky instead starts to take Larry to a Wrestlemania event he and Eugene were going to see. Larry instead takes Nicky with him to a woman called Mrs. Vincent whom Larry is occasionally intimate with. Nicky does not engage in sexual intercourse with Mrs. Vincent and instead goes outside as Larry has fun with her inside. Nicky is surprised to find a young boy named Mikey Chernak, who is Mrs. Vincent's next door neighbour and also someone he knows from his garbage route, outside with bruises on his face. When Nicky asks where the bruises are from Mikey replies he fell. Nicky does not understand that it is Mikey's father Martin (David Strathairn) who abuses him and assumes Mikey is telling the truth.

Larry and Nicky go bar-hopping and both get very drunk, all the while Larry constantly and drunkenly taunts Nicky about Eugene's relationship with Jennifer. Nicky stumbles home and finds Jennifer and Eugene sitting and talking. Nicky believes they are sleeping together and tells Eugene that he knows he is 'screwing' Jennifer. Eugene gets very angry and roughly shoves Nicky before sending him to bed. An insulted Jennifer leaves.

Later, Nicky, Eugene, Jennifer and Mrs. Gianelli, who lives next door, go on a picnic and bring Nicky's dog Fred. Fred is hit by a car, greatly disturbing Nicky. Several days later, Nicky is collecting garbage at Mikey's house and through the window views Martin hitting Mikey and forcing him down the stairs. The father shoves him too hard and sends the boy to the bottom of the stairs. The father races to the phone and calls 911, telling them the boy fell. The father sees a shocked Nicky through the window as Larry and Mr. Johnson find Nicky by the window. Nicky is horrified, speechless and unable to act, to move, to tell Larry what is wrong, what he's witnessed. The father lies and says Mikey fell; both are concerned and soon neighbors, including Mrs Vincent and Theresa, Mikey's mother, arrive at the scene. An ambulance appears and takes Mikey to the hospital. An inconsolable Nicky runs after the ambulance, leaving his co-workers at the garbage truck shouting after him to ask what's wrong.

Nicky runs to the hospital where Martin drags him into a closet and tells him that Mikey is dead, warning Nicky that if he tells anybody what he did, he will kill Nicky also. A horrified Nicky flees. Later on, Nicky takes a gun from Mr. Johnson's truck (which Larry was seen with earlier in the film to kill rats at the junkyard) and goes back to the home of Martin and his wife Theresa where they and a gathering of neighbors and friends grieve. Nicky steals a baby, Mikey's younger brother Joey, from his parents at gunpoint and runs away believing he is protecting the baby from the father. He is eventually cornered in a building where a SWAT Team surrounds the place.

Eugene and Jennifer as well as Martin and Theresa race to the building. Eugene is sent in to get Nicky and the baby out. He goes in and is confronted by Nicky who now believes after seeing the domestic abuse of Mikey that their father did the same to him and that is why he is mentally challenged. Eugene breaks down and admits that it is true. Yet, he also reveals that despite this it was always Nicky standing up to their father and always protecting Eugene. He tells of how one night their father got really mad at Eugene and that Nicky took the beating instead of Eugene and that is why Nicky is mentally challenged. A sobbing Eugene tells Nicky he does not want to become like their father and he is at times afraid of himself and how he gets mad at Nicky. Nicky comforts him and tells him that he is not and that he loves him.

They exit the building and hand the baby, Joey, over to Theresa. Eugene protests as the Pittsburgh Police handcuff Nicky. Martin races forward with a gun and aims for Nicky. Eugene and two police officers manage to subdue him. Nicky tells everyone how Martin abused Mikey and how he killed him. A horrified Theresa realizes that that is true. Nicky is released and the father is hauled away in handcuffs.

At the end, Eugene kisses Jennifer as she leaves for medical school and she says she will leave a number with Nicky. The twins embrace one last time and then Eugene also leaves. The credits roll as Nicky goes on his daily garbage route, happily embracing the future with content and a new understanding of himself.

External links

• Dominick and Eugene at the Internet Movie Database