Thinner (1996)

Director:

Tom Holland

Writers (WGA):

Stephen King (novel)
Michael McDowell (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

25 October 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Let The Curse Fit The Crime.

Plot:

A lawyer is cursed by a gypsy to lose weight...and lose weight...and lose weight...

Plot Keywords:

Lawyer | Gypsy | Curse | Death | Fair

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Robert John Burke	...	Billy Halleck
Joe Mantegna	...	Richie Ginelli
Lucinda Jenney	...	Heidi Halleck
Michael Constantine	...	Tadzu Lempke
Kari Wuhrer	...	Gina Lempke
Bethany Joy Galeotti	...	Linda Halleck (as Joie Lenz)
Time Winters	...	Prosecutor
Howard Erskine	...	Judge Phillips
Terrence Garmey	...	Bailiff
Randy Jurgensen	...	Court Clerk
Jeff Ware	...	Max Duggenfield
Antonette Schwartzberg	...	Mama Ginelli
Terence Kava	...	Gabe Lempke (as Terrence Kava)
Adriana Delphine	...	Gypsy Woman
Ruth Miller	...	Billy's Secretary

Also Known As:

Stephen King's Thinner

MPAA:

Rated R for horror violence and gore, language and sexuality.

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:16 (TV rating) | Iceland:16 | Germany:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Italy:VM14 (video premiere) | Portugal:M/16 (video premiere) | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Appleton, Maine, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Cameo: [Stephen King]the author appears as Dr. Bangor. (Bangor, Maine is where King lives.)

Goofs:

Continuity: When Halleck hits the gypsy in the car, she hits the windscreen and leaves no blood on it, but in the next shot there is blood all over it.

Quotes:

Billy Halleck: What are you trying to do to me?
Heidi Halleck: What you wanted me to do in the back seat of your daddy's car. Prove my love to you.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Sopranos: Walk Like a Man (#6.17)" (2007)

A Macbre Weight-loss Film

If you're a big fan of Stephen King and want to see a film that stays true to the book, then this one will please. Thinner is the story of an obese lawyer, Billy Halleck, who kills a gypsy woman with his car. When the local judge and sheriff cover up the accident and let Billy off the hook, a gypsy curse is put on all of them.

One of the big things about this film that gave it it's publicity (besides Stephen King's name) was in the costume work done on Billy Halleck's weight-loss transformation. I think, given how daunting a task this was, that a good job was done. I did notice they forgot to augment his fingers to compensate with his body mass.

"Thinner" is delivered with what might be described as (forgive me) a second or third-string acting class - actors who deliver good roles but aren't chart toppers or as well known (Joe Mantegna, Kari Wuhrer, etc.). King's story teeters a bit when Billy and the gypsies begin playing a game of tit for tat. And the ending, although poetic with its Edgar Allan Poe touch, comes off as "oh brother!" 5/10