Double Whammy (2001)

A world-weary police detective who fails to stop a fast-food restaurant massacre struggles to regain his departmental reputation, public image and self-worth.

Director:

Tom DiCillo

Writer:

Tom DiCillo

Stars:

Denis Leary, Elizabeth Hurley, Luis Guzmán

2 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Denis Leary	...	Ray Pluto
Elizabeth Hurley	...	Dr. Ann Beamer
Luis Guzmán	...	Juan Benitez
Victor Argo	...	Lt. Spigot
Chris Noth	...	Chick Dimitri
Donald Faison	...	Cletis
Keith Nobbs	...	Duke
Steve Buscemi	...	Jerry Cubbins
Maurice Compte	...	Jo Jo
Otto Sanchez	...	Ping Pong
Melonie Diaz	...	Maribel Benitez
Millie Tirelli	...	Yolanda
Kevin Olson	...	Ricky Lapinski
Joe D'Angerio	...	Detective Janks
Maurice G. Smith	...	Boover

Storyline

Ray Pluto is a detective with a problem due to the loss of his wife and daughter. One day, he is in a fast food place, and due to a pain in his back, he is not able to avoid a mass murderer of six people. A young boy uses his gun and kills the killer. He becomes a loser in the eyes of the police force and public opinion, and his partner convinces him to have a session with the chiropractor Dr. Ann Beamer. A complicated romance between them grows. Meanwhile, at least two other plots happen in the movie involving detective Pluto and other odd characters.

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Plot Keywords:

detective | chiropractor | police | apartment | new york city | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, violence, some sexuality and drug use

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 August 2001 (Portugal)

Also Known As:

Bad Luck

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$74,926

Company Credits

Production Co:

Apostle, Gold Circle Films, Lemon Sky Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Denis and Elizabeth will be reunited in a film with an unsure title, DAWG or BAD BOY (2002).

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Goofs

When Ray and Ann are at his place for dessert, we see him coming out of the kitchen with ice cream. In the next shot, we see him sitting on the couch in the reflection on the TV. However, when we cut back to Ray, he is still in the process of sitting down.

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Connections

References Home Alone (1990)

User Reviews

A nice surprise

I was surprised last night when I saw the poster for this one at Blockbuster. Being a big Steve Buscemi fan, I try to keep up on his work but I must have missed this one somewhere. Denis Leary and Elizabeth Hurley were also top-billed so I decided to take it home. Once it was all said and done, I had gotten pretty much what I had expected: An offbeat comedy with quirky characters and some unexpected touches of heart. I can't say I care much for the title, but the movie does make for a pretty entertaining 90 minutes.

Denis Leary plays the somewhat burnt-out detective, Ray Pluto, who has just failed to stop a big shooting from going down at a local fast food joint. It's a mess, to say the least, and it doesn't help that the crime was stopped by a dorky seven year old kid with coke bottle glasses. This disgrace, and a bad back problem (which was the cause for the said fast food incident) has forced him to take a little time off, where he meets up with a sexy chiropractor played by none other than Liz Hurley.

Meanwhile, we meet the Superintendent of Ray's apartment building (Luis Guzman who's great as ever), the super's teenage daughter, a couple of identically dressed, bumbling screenwriters, and a couple of crooks who are even dumber. Since the whole thing moves at a nice leisurely pace, we learn that Ray is not the luckiest guy in the world. He recently lost his wife and son in a horrible accident and his big pleasure is to smoke pot and watch aerobic videos. His partner, Jerry (Buscemi) is having problems concerning his sexuality and the case that he was on has just been assigned to another detective. Not only does he have a recent tragedy to deal with, but also a bad back and a ruined reputation to restore.

While watching all of the fun characters, you can be sure that they will all cross paths sooner or later, and somehow, everything will tie together in the end. I had a fun time with this one and surprisingly, one particularly emotional scene near the end, brought a tear to my eye. That's very surprising for a movie like this. If you're not a fan of the actors or the genre, then you may have a hard time with it, but if oddball characters are your thing, then you'll be right at home. 8/10