8 Heads in a Duffel Bag

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

I went in to this film with absolutely no expectation at all and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. It is in some parts so daft that you just can't help but snigger. Joe Pesci is great as a Mafia man assigned to bring back the heads of 8 'hits' he has made on the West coast. Enter a medical student, with a similar looking bag, his girlfriend and her family and you have the recipe for good crude comedy. Worth checking out if you are in the mood for a chuckle.

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!

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.

Before I watched this movie I already read the reviews on IMDb. Almost everybody says it is an awful movie. Well, I'm in a good mood today and I'm not going to follow everybody's opinion. I liked it, not all the time, but it was OK.

Joe Pesci is a mobster who has two days to deliver 8 heads of other criminals to his boss. If he fails his head will be the next to be cut off. Of course on the airport his bag is switched with another one.

Not all the gags and jokes are good. There are some very predictable and embarrassing ones. Not only embarrassing for a great actor like Joe Pesci, but also for the guy who came up with them. However, there were some terrific ones as well, the best perhaps is the dream sequence. I'm not going to tell what happened, but it is really hilarious.

Overall I would call it an enjoyable movie when you are able to switch off your brain for once. I gave it a 6/10, which isn't bad for this kind of movies.