Suicide Kings

Christopher Walken, Denis Leary, et al. Artisan, 1998.
[also starring a host of new guys that the younger generation would recognise]

PLOT: some Ivy League rich kids decide to kidnap a retired mob boss in order to ransom him for the amount of money needed to pay to ransom for one of the kid's kidnapped sister.

Already funny, and the rest of the movie is great as well - in fact, it would probably be a great stage play, which is what I always state about every movie that has a fairly static setting and relies mostly on taut dialogue in order to move the plot forward. This would be a great state play and that's one of my biggest compliments for anything.

Walken is of course, exceptional - the other actors excellent. And truly, I can't give away much more without ruining the plot.

Except that Leary interwoven diatribe about his stingray boots is hilarious - comic relief that's very well input, even though it's a device to extend the time and to break up the static living room scene. Another intriguing plot device are the personalities and the weaknesses of the would-be kidnappers, which are expertly manipulated by Walken's character - and the audience realizes very soon that even though he's tied to a chair and bleeding to death, he's still got a lot more smarts than these 6 doofi.

great movie - great dialogue - and if you can handle the constant stream of cursing, you'll have a fun time watching it.

[last note: twist ending! - and a pretty slick one, too!]

TTFN

VG