8 Heads in a Duffel Bag

The rest of the IMDb reviewers have got it about right. This is a good film. Nothing special or brilliant, but it does what it sets out to do which is to make you laugh - and it does so much better than most films of its kind.

I started watching this expecting to change channels quite quickly. I only gave it a chance at all because Joe Pesci was in it - which is never a bad asset for a film. What happened was I found myself smiling quite a lot, and then laughing quite a lot. Not uproariously or uncontrollably. But out loud, and more than once.

Pesci is good - but so is just about everyone else. And the script is wickedly funny too. It's much less predictable than most of its kind, There are twists which are genuinely surprising and interesting, and the film stays pretty fresh (even though in truth it's probably 20 minutes too long).

I'm quite a harsh marker, so a 6 from me is quite a compliment for a film like this. Well-written, nicely-paced, silly without being annoying, and containing some funny performances and a lot of good moments, you will like this one if you give it a chance.

A mob bagman (Joe Pesci) finds that his luggage, containing the proof of his latest hit, has been switched.

This was a nice departure for David Spade, stepping away from "Saturday Night Live", though still staying within comedy. Not his best work, but also probably not his fault. As a whole, the movie never really takes off the way it should.

The exception is an awesome dream sequence, perhaps one of the better dream sequences ever filmed. Sadly, this one minute is the very best -- the rest of the film does not live up to the great title. Overall, it is quite tame on the violence and gore for the subject matter. If the same story was done without it being comedy, who knows how great this might have been?

Perhaps inspired by the Warren Oates classic "Bring Me the Head of Alffredo Garcia", this heads in a bag comedy has a strong opening, and a somewhat ridiculous finish. The actor's do quite well with what is essentially a one joke movie. "8 Heads in a Duffel Bag" starts as black comedy, but eventually morphs into nothing more than slapstick. The ending at the airport is especially weak, as any idea of how to conclude the film seems to have been lost. Nevertheless, the strong, "dark" first half, along with above average comedy material saves the movie, and compared to some of today's lame comedies, I can recommend seeing "8 Heads in a Duffel Bag." - MERK

Eventually, one of the bigger flaws of "8 Heads In A Duffel Bag" will strike viewers. They will ask themselves, "Why does the tone of the movie keep changing?" Sometimes the movie is a goofy comedy. Sometimes it's high-energy farce. Sometimes (actually, most of the time), the movie's tone is kind of flat. I'm not sure why the tone kept changing. Maybe it was a consequence of the lower budget - although the movie never looks seriously cheap, it has the appearance of being hastily shot with not much thought put through it. (And while most of the movie is set in Mexico, it's pretty obvious that it was not shot there.) However, even if a more consistent tone had been generated, the movie would still suffer from a screenplay with a number of flaws. Although Pesci's character has a deadline, he obviously goes past this deadline with no consequences. The movie keeps dropping plot elements and bringing them back after a long time has passed. There are plot holes, and the last third of the movie, when all the characters are together, becomes somewhat confusing.

I will admit that I did laugh a few times, mostly at Pesci's behavior and one-liners. And it's nice to see George Hamilton in a major studio movie again, though he is mostly wasted. But while the movie's flaws didn't aggravate me greatly, at the end I muttered "ehhhh" to the 95 minutes I had just watched.

This movie is such an under rated gem. Great writing and great cast. From one of the producers of Dumb and Dumber, it totally works as a comedy. Very fun. It's a little over the top, but very funny. Great for a Friday or Saturday night with the guys. I just found my favorite movie!