Suicide Kings

Infobox_Film
name =Suicide Kings

---

caption =Promotional film poster
imdb_id =0120241
writer =Don Stanford
(Short Story)
Josh McKinney
(screenplay)
starring =Christopher Walken
Denis Leary
Henry Thomas
Sean Patrick Flanery
Jay Mohr
director =Peter O'Fallon
producer =
distributor =Live Film
Artisan Entertainment (DVD)
released =September 6, 1997(Toronto Film Festival)
April 17, 1998 (USA)
runtime =106 min
language =English
country =USA
budget =

"Suicide Kings" is a 1997 American movie, starring Christopher Walken, Denis Leary, Sean Patrick Flanery, Johnny Galecki, Jay Mohr, Jeremy Sisto, and Henry Thomas. It was based on Don Stanford's short story, "The Hostage", and directed by Peter O'Fallon.

Plot Details

Moving in a non-linear fashion, the movie follows the exploits of a group of young 20-something rich kids who are plotting a kidnapping in order to save the sister of one of the friends. The movie opens with Charlie Barret (Walken) walking to his private table in a restaurant, only to see three young men sitting at his table - Avery (Henry Thomas), Max (Sean Patrick Flanery) and Brett (Jay Mohr). Charlie happens to know Avery's father, and after an initial reluctance, is willing to go with the boys for a 'night on the town'.

As the scene progresses, it shifts back and forth to the planning of what they're going to do to Charlie - they plan to kidnap him by strapping him to his seat and use some chloroform to knock him out. Naturally, things don't go as smoothly as they wanted, and Charlie tries fighting back - but eventually succumbs and is knocked out.

When Charlie wakes up, he sees himself surrounded by the three and a fourth friend T.K. (Jeremy Sisto), dressed in a doctor's uniform, checking his vital signs. It's soon revealed that Charlie 'used' to be Carlo Bartolucci, a mob figure. The boys then explain that Avery's sister has been kidnapped, and that the kidnappers (Frank Medrano and Brad Garrett) are demanding $2 million ransom for her release. They figure that Charlie still has connections to get that kind of money to the gangsters, and they want his cooperation. To ensure that Charlie knows how serious they are, Charlie is shown his pinkie finger, complete with a signet ring, cut off and floating in a bowl of ice - since the same was allegedly done to Avery's sister.

Charlie, though tied down, flies into a rage, stating "I'm looking at dead men." However, he eventually agrees to help them. He contacts his lawyer, who in turn contacts Lono (Denis Leary), Charlie's bodyguard, asking him to track Charlie down. Lono goes about his own investigation, asking for (and in some cases beating out) information from people, including the waitress, Jennifer (Nina Siemaszko) who usually waits on Charlie, and a friend of Charlie's, Lydia (Laura San Giacomo) (during the course of these conversations, an added backstory is shown about both Lono and Charlie, including how Charlie got his signet ring).

Charlie, meanwhile, tries to take the boys' naivete to his advantage. A fifth friend, Ira (Johnny Galecki) shows up - it's Ira's house that they're in, and apparently Ira didn't know a thing about what they had planned, expecting only a night of poker, beer and porn. Charlie starts playing the boys off of each other, slowly getting information out of them, including how they got into this mess in the first place. After much cajoling and piecing information together, its revealed that Avery was actually the one responsible for getting his own sister into trouble. The boys had, the previous summer, spent a wild weekend in Atlantic City, where they dropped tens of thousands of dollars on various bets. Avery had gotten in over his head wagering on a football game, and had to come up with a way to pay off his $50,000 debt. The two mobsters approached him and told him they would 'kidnap' his sister, in exchange for the money they'd get.

Lono eventually makes his way to Ira's house and has Charlie removed from his restraints, around the same time that the money is sent to the two thugs. The next day, Charlie and Lono meet up with the two gangsters who had kidnapped Avery's sister, around the same time that Avery finds that the hospital where his sister is supposed to have been is not there. The scene then shifts to a boat in the ocean, where Max climbs up to after swimming - and sees Charlie's signet ring. Charlie and Lono figured out what had really happened - Avery did, indeed, owe the two thugs $50,000, but Max and Avery's sister Elise wanted to run away with each other also. So Elise came up with a plan - they would fake the kidnapping, ask for $2 million, and the thugs would get $1 million for playing along, while Max and Elise would walk away with the other million. Although Charlie understands why they did what they did, he needs to set an example - and has Lono apparently kill both Max and Elise (as it never shows their deaths or bodies, but shows Lono firing two shots), walking off with the rest of his money.

Cast

Trivia

* This was Peter O'Fallon's feature film debut after being known primarily as a television director (he directed several episodes of "Northern Exposure").
* 8 of the actors in this movie are also in Stephen King films/TV series.
* The film also features two alternate endings, both of them 'lighter' in content to the movie ending. In one of them, Charlie allows Max and Elise to live happily ever after with their $1 million. In the other, Charlie allows them to live, but takes his money and Lono shoots holes in the boat, causing it to slowly sink. However, the endings didn't 'test' as well as the movie ending, and it was also felt that Max and Elise needed to pay for the grief they put everyone through.
* In the scene where the bartender is kicking out Avery and Max, Max (Sean Patrick Flanery) accidentally says "Brett's in the J" - J for John.

Tagline

* "Their plan was perfect... They weren't."

External links

*imdb title|id=0120241|title=Suicide Kings