Stephen Kings Thinner - Der Fluch

Billy Halleck (Robert John Burke) hits an old gypsy woman with his car, and with the help of his lawyer and judge friends gets away without even a traffic fine. Unfortunately for him, he cannot use legal maneuvers to get the gypsy curse off of him!

Stephen King has one of the worst track records for film adaptations. For every great film (Green Mile, Shawshank Redemption, Shining) there are some real piles of rubbish. And any number of films in between. This one, luckily, is closer to the good end. Some have pooh-poohed it, but I found it pretty enjoyable.

Beyond the main story, which was average, the film comes alive due to Joe Mantegna's portrayal of Richie Ginelli. Mantegna, who you may know from "Criminal Minds" or as the voice of Fat Tony from "The Simpsons", is pretty great as violence incarnate. When he unleashes his vengeance on the gypsies, you almost have to feel bad for them, as you admire his tenacious bloodlust.

I have heard people complain about the ending, which apparently varies from the novel. I have also heard that the novel has more intricate subtleties that the movie overlooked. I do not have the novel, so I cannot comment on that, beyond saying that I really enjoyed the ending. I can't say what it is, but I found it very appropriate.

Burke's Clint Eastwood voice may be a bit dramatic, but I did not mind... oh, and Kari Wuhrer appears, as well... though does little more than provide a dash of sex appeal.

King adapted movies either work or they don't. Horror type flicks are very hard to do well. This did have a made-for-TV feel about it similar to other King flicks, but imo, the reason this was acceptable was in large part due to the acting and casting of Robert John Burke. Can you imagine seeing this man walk his dog at night? He seems outside the human race somehow…I guess that's why they choose acting as a profession. He so not normal. His voice quality was over the top, Simpson-esq in quality like in a cartoon…but that worked here.

Joe Mantegna and Michael Constantine were excellent. As stated previously, Kari Wuhrer is smokin' hot. Too bad she looks exactly like that Doritos girl who is on a UON stupid sitcom now. I guess you can't have two Doritos girls in Hollyweird.

You gotta love IMDb.com to look up all the work these actors have done. I knew I saw Burke and Wuhrer's face before but couldn't place them. I thought Michael Constantine was James Coco…but only tonight I saw Constantine in The Hustler w/Paul Newman, one of his first roles. IMDb confirmed this.

Even found out Joe's wife owns a pizza place in Burbank...need to stop by.

The corpulent Billy Halleck(Robert James Burke)is a successful advocate in law. While he's driving along with his wife(Lucinda Jenney), he accidentally hits a gypsy with his car and run. Then he's cursed by an old gypsy(Michael Constantine) and his gorgeous daughter(Kari Wuher) with a continuous weight loss. With the complicity of local judge and the sheriff (Daniel Von Bargen)Billy is absolved. Furthermore, Billy is friend of a local mobster named Richie(Joe Mantegna) who is determined to save him, originating a cruel vendetta.

Thinner was written by Stephen King in 1984, based on horror master bestselling novel of the same name, under pseudonym Richard Bachman . Early the 90s, Warner Brothers attempted cinema rendition with John Candy, but death actor made the pre-production failed. The Paramount Pictures took the production with interesting script by Tom Holland(Langoliers) and Michael Mc Dowell( screenwriter of Beetlejuice and Tales from the darkside). Casting is frankly decent, Robert James Burke(usual of director Hal Hartley), recently his success in Robocop 3, Joe Mantegna(usual of David Mamet,Things change,House of games,Homicide),the beautiful Kari Wuher(Anaconda,Sliders). Besides, as always, habitual cameo by Stephen King as Dr. Bangor. The film displays adequate musical score fitting to terror and suspense by Daniel Licht The motion picture is professionally directed by Tom Holland(Fright night,Child's play), a director expert in horror and suspense movies. The result is better than previous Stephen king adaptation, the mediocre, Running man. Rating : Acceptable and passable picture, well worth watching for Stephen King fond.

I didn't know what to expect from "Thinner". Firstly when I saw it in the "What's On TV" magazine I thought of it as a serious horror film, that sounded quite eerie. You know, a man slowly getting thinner and thinner, and then of course it's Stephen King which is never a bad thing, and then it had 4 stars and so i thought that this film could have potential! But then I look at IMDb's rating and it's very below average so I was wary. Thankfully I was relieved when I turned it on and the first thing I saw was this clearly slim man in a ridiculous fat suit and I laughed.

I pretty much laughed all the way through. There's no denying that "Thinner" (unintentially or not) is a very funny film. You only have to look at the man and laugh at those incredible hamster-type cheeks! The fat suit is hilariously bad, not a patch on the one that Eddie Murphey wears in "The Nutty Professor". The man's facial expressions also had me rolling down the aisles (well, 'the sitting room') in every shot his eyes were wide and gleaming like he's just seen a massive slice of cake! His smile was also hideous. He looked like "The Joker" out of "Batman". Even when he's eventually thin, he still wears those awful eyes and smile. The guy's a slug.

The special make-up effects are very special indeed. A film like "Thinner" relies on the make-up effects. That's what made David Cronenberg's "The Fly" so amazing. Yet, the effects on "Thinner" are almost as bad as the fat effects. One man has terrible rubber boils over his face and his hand looks like a dinosaur stump. The 'thin' effects are also quite horrendous too. Thanks to "Thinner's" visuals you're always sure of a laugh. I can't tell if we're meant to be taking this film seriously or not.

And then there's the awful screenplay that always seems to fight for the chance to see Mr.Lawyer literally stuffing his face with food. Though, it doesn't help that all the actors are terrible, with the gypsy looking like 'Grandad' out of "Mrs Brown's Boys" only with hair more luscious. Every character is a stereotype and the actor's seem to live up to that. No one asks questions like, "Why have you bought home a pie?" They just accept that and eat it.

In all seriousness, "Thinner" could have been a horror classic rather than a horror cult classic. It could've been a chilling fable of greed and the price you pay for it. Instead we get a hugely entertaining film that offers no scares what so ever. "Thinner" is a hard film to rate because critically it's awful, but then again I had a ball watching this film and would happily watch it again. "Thinner" never bores, and the ending is actually pretty good. For guaranteed laughs, don't miss "Thinner".

I saw this movie on TV a few years back. I'd read the book before seeing the movie, and I've read the book a second time recently, after seeing the movie. And I think I can safely say that 'Thinner' is a decent attempt, but doesn't live up to the book.

The movie is based on Stephen King's 'Thinner'. It is based around an obese small-town lawyer, Billy Halleck (Robert Burke), who has a curse put on him by a gypsy (Michael Constantine), after running over his daughter with his car. Halleck leaves his wife (Lucinda Jenny) and daughter (Joie Lenz), to find the gypsy and get the curse that is steadily making him thin reversed, before it is too late.

Like another reviewer said, this movie seems really TV movie-ish. The only actor I recognize in this movie is the typecasted Joe Mantegna. The rest I've never heard of before or since this movie. For the most part the movie is faithful to the book. But, it lacks much of the vivid detail of the book. Also, the main character is far more tame in the movie. Though, as I said, most of the actors I've never heard of before or since, they do a very good job in this movie. After seeing the movie, I can't picture anyone else playing the roles they did. And the make-up effects are amazing.

Overall, a decent movie. Could've better captured the spirit of the book. You could find a worse way to spend two hours.

Rating: 7/10