Matialth
Good concept, poorly executed.
ScoobyMint
Disappointment for a huge fan!
Fulke
Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.
BA_Harrison
Robert John Burke plays obese lawyer Billy Halleck, who accidentally runs down and kills an old gypsy woman with his car while he is receiving an on-the-move blow job from his wife. Successfully avoiding prosecution (thanks to his colluding pals, the local judge and police chief), Billy thinks his troubles are over, but they are only just beginning: Tadzu Lempke (Michael Constantine), father of the dead woman, uses gypsy magic to seek revenge, causing Billy to lose weight at an alarming rate.Fright Night director Tom Holland is the man behind this mid-'90s Stephen King adaptation, but having come straight from helming TV mini-series The Langoliers (also based on a King book), he gives his film the look and feel of a made-for-TV movie rather than a cinematic release, the director clearly struggling to make the transition back to the big-screen.It's not all bad news, though: the film breezes along at a reasonable pace, boasts decent make-up effects (courtesy of Greg Cannom), a little bit of gore (best being a neat 'hand with a hole' effect), and some welcome eye-candy in the form of sexy Kari Wuhrer as a gypsy temptress. While the film doesn't exactly rewrite the rules, there's never a boring moment and, much like Sam Raimi's similarly themed Drag Me To Hell, the film packs a neat twist at the end.
alexanderdavies-99382
"Thinner" is far too lightweight as far as plotting and adaptations go. The story used for this film is nowhere near gritty enough and should have been more shocking. The leading man and lady are both dull and uncharismatic. The actor who plays the gangster is the one who gives the best performance.
There is a distinct lack of vitality about "Thinner." From the beginning, I was never quite convinced of the main character being in any kind of danger. The subplot about the wife having a fling with the doctor character served no purpose whatsoever and should have been edited or not included in the screenplay in the first place.
I have seen far better adaptations of Stephen King's work.
Scott LeBrun
This engaging adaptation of the novel, which Stephen King wrote under his Richard Bachman pseudonym, stars the under rated Robert John Burke as Billy Halleck. Billy is a lawyer in Maine who happens to be grossly overweight. After he accidentally runs down an elderly Gypsy woman, his judge (John Horton) and cop (Daniel von Bargen) friends conspire to help Billy avoid any punishment. This infuriates the old womans' even more ancient father (Michael Constantine, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"), who places one of those old fashioned Gypsy curses on Billy. Stroking Billy's cheek, he utters one word: "Thinner". Soon, Billy is rapidly losing weight, which he enjoys at first, until he realizes that he really is going to waste away to nothing unless something is done.Just personally speaking, this viewer has a blast with this particular King story. Yes, it's unrelentingly downbeat, but he didn't mind that so much. And it's true: other than Billy's daughter Linda (Bethany Joy Lenz), there isn't a single character in the story who's remotely sympathetic. Still, this viewer found it refreshing that so many people here turn out to be such a-holes. It's a highly entertaining tale, well told by co-screenwriter and director Tom Holland ("Fright Night", "Child's Play"). And it's fortunately not completely without a sense of humor, although the humor tends towards the dark.There's wonderful music by Daniel Licht, but the real marvel of the movie is the astonishing, convincing makeup effects (supervised by Oscar winner Greg Cannom) that transform the thin Burke into an obese man. There's also a gem of a supporting performance by the always entertaining Joe Mantegna as a mafia man whom Billy had successfully defended in court. Therefore, the mobster feels indebted to the lawyer, and is more than willing to help Billy in his quest to convince the ancient Gypsy to remove the curse. The supporting cast is solid right down the line, with Lucinda Jenney as Billy's possibly unfaithful wife (the script tries to leave this aspect as ambiguous as possible), Sam Freed as a doctor friend, the intoxicatingly sexy Kari Wuhrer as Constantines' great granddaughter, Elizabeth Franz in a bravura turn as Hortons' wife, and Peter Maloney as an information provider. Director Hollands' son Josh plays Frank Spurton; King has his usual cameo (playing a pharmacist). What is a real laugh is the fact that actress Irma St. Paule, as the accident victim, actually looks OLDER than Constantine!Good gloomy fun, but it won't be to all "tastes", especially the ending.Eight out of 10.
ericrnolan
"Thinner" (1996) was a fun enough outing; I'd give it an 8 out of 10. You can easily tell that this story originated with Stephen King. Only he can take an antiquated plot device like a gypsy curse and actually make it frightening.I do get the sense that screenwriters Michael McDowell and Tom Holland stuck closely to the original novel (which I have not read). It seems like a character-focused story; I'll bet the original prose really explored the incongruous friendship between Robert John Burke's mild-mannered attorney and Joe Mantegna's apparently psychotic mobster. I'll bet that King's unique style would have perfectly rendered certain plot points in the movie, such as one key conversation being overheard early on.I feel like an idiot ... For the life of me, I thought that actress Kari Wuhrer was Marissa Tomei. Her resemblance in this movie is striking. I can't be the only one who made that mistake, can I? Anyway, I really panned Wuhrer's performance in 2005's disappointing "Hellraiser: Deader." But she is damn terrific here in her role as the beautiful banshee adversary -- she damn near steals the movie. Also outstanding is Michael Constantine as her haggard, curse- casting gypsy father.
