Chain of Fools (2000)

Salma Hayek plays an avid detective assigned to the heist of a batch of precious coins that end up in the hands of a suicidal barber.

Directors:

Pontus Löwenhielm (as Traktor), Patrick von Krusenstjerna (as Traktor)

Writer:

Bix Skahill

Stars:

Steve Zahn, Salma Hayek, Jeff Goldblum

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steve Zahn	...	Kresk
Salma Hayek	...	Kolko
Jeff Goldblum	...	Avnet
Elijah Wood	...	Mikey
David Cross	...	Andy
Tom Wilkinson	...	Bollingsworth
Orlando Jones	...	Miss Cocoa
Kevin Corrigan	...	Paulie
David Hyde Pierce	...	Mr. Kerner
Lara Flynn Boyle	...	Karen
John Cassini	...	Henchman
Michael Rapaport	...	Hitman
Myndy Crist	...	Jeannie
Craig Ferguson	...	Melander Stevens
Devin Douglas Drewitz	...	Scottie (as Devin Drewitz)

Storyline

"Chain of Fools" is a heist comedy-romance about a hapless barber whose life takes a turn for the worse when he ends up in possession of a stolen treasure of ancient coins (the "Shiny New Enemies") and simultaneously falls on the wrong side of the law and in love with the detective investigating the crime.

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Plot Keywords:

canine | man's best friend | botched robbery | robbery | theft | 

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Taglines:

Why should smart people get all the money?

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, sexuality and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Claudia Schiffer was originally cast as Karen.

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Goofs

When Mikey (Elijah Wood) is about to shoot Bollingsworth (Tom Wilkinson), he points a Walther P99 pistol at him. The pistol is, however, not cocked as revealed by the absence of the bright red "cocked" indicator below the rear sights. This would make it impossible for the weapon to fire. (This may have been an intentional precaution by the filmmakers as the weapon has no safety switch.)

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Quotes

Mikey: Excuse me, is this chair being used?
Snotty Man: Does it look like it's being used?
Mikey: "Does it look like it's being used?" That's a good one.
[Mikey picks up the chair and smashes the man with it]
Mikey: Now it's being used.

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Connections

Referenced in The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson: Episode #7.157 (2011)

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Soundtracks

Flyswatter
Written by Mark Oliver Everett (as E)
Performed by Eels
Courtesy of Dreamworks Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

A cut-up action story, nicely made by "first-timers"

The Traktor team has been around a while, creating commercial spots for the media, now moving into directing film (none forthcoming, as one of them said yesterday at a promotional screening) and music videos (Fatboy Slim being the next victim), thus being newcomers on the scene of cinema, while they really are not.

The film is as fractioned as "Magnolia", "Pulp Fiction" and "A Life Less Ordinary", but that may also be its stronghold. The film mostly circles a barber (Steve Zahn) whose wife (Lara Flynn Boyle) has just left him, when a nervous-looking gangster (Jeff Goldblum) enters the shop, asking for a haircut.

Saying more than this would be spoiling the film a bit, as the plot is not presented chronologically, and it has to do with everyone trying to get hold of three very valuable Ming-dynasty coins.

Many archetypes are displayed, e.g. the gangster, the hysterical ex wife and the stiff upper-lipped englishman (Tom Wilkinson), although some quite interesting characters are in place, e.g. a 17-year-old hit-man (Elijah Wood), a Police Inspector who has graced herself in Playboy (Salma Hayek) and a very nasty Timber Scout Leader (David Cross).

The film loses tempo from time to time, but recaptures it with the help of the characters and the back-and-forth switching in time and place which makes up for the general lack of story. The film does appeal with its simplicity, and Zahn does a great job with playing the loser, as do others of the cast. The soundtrack is varied and tense, not giving away "commercial spots" for known artists, but alternative rock and some actionesque dance tracks.

Making up for the dark humor of the film, there is a lot of slapstick and also wordplay, probably a stab at Quentin Tarantino's dialogue, but here it's more earth-bound and close to heart. You won't hear any "Royale with cheese"-drops here.

All in all, this is a decent action/romance-film, although there is not much romance. There is more action in this film than in your general Hollywood ones though, giving way to a lot of different screening locations, a very varied spectrum of characters, dialogue that feels real, an OK story and a good soundtrack. Go see it as an easy-going action flick that presumably won't change your movie-going taste, but will leave you with the desire for more "mainstream" films striving for what "Chain Of Fools" has achieved.

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros.

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 September 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Shiny New Enemies

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bel Air Entertainment, City Block Productions, Lord-Weaver

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1