abyoussef by Dane Youssef"Tarantinoesque (adj) – referring to or reminiscent of the work of the American film-maker and actor Quentin Tarantino (born 1963), known for the violence and wit of his films." --Collins English DictionaryTarantino never set foot in a film school. He might not even have taken TV Media in high school. But he still changed the genre. With "Reservoir Dogs," he was established. With "Pulp Fiction," he was God.Hollywood is like high school. When one does something that really gets popular, it sparks... the trend. And all the others follow suit-- following the leader like cult lemmings. And in film, influence can be essential. Or just sad and embarrassing. Tarantino inspired many--a lot of particular imitators. Some good. And... as for this one? "SUICIDE KINGS" dares to spin a yarn of a quartet of wealthy privileged youngsters who dream up... and then try the most desperate and daring of schemes... The reformed mobster is on his way home one night after an invigorating evening out. There's an ambush, he's attacked. He comes to... only to find himself bound-and-gagged in a chair somewhere. What the hell's going on?A hostage film. A mob-crime flick. And also eventually... kind of mystery "whodunnit?" thriller, the plot twists and turns--especially in the last quarter of the picture. Just a bunch of boys having fun. Bein' boys--not unlike "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction.""The Godfather in question" finds in a cabin somewhere surrounded by rich collegiate in nice suits who seem to fancy themselves their own independent Mafioso. He sees red--on someone's shirt, as it's covered in the Goodfella's blood. The whole plan goes as wrong as we'd expect and the spoiler richies panic--and then these dumb rich silver spoons all turn on each other. "SUICIDE KINGS" boasts one of those casts that we'd expect from the latest Tarantino picture. Christopher Walken, Laura Harris, Jeremy Sisto, Brad Garrett, Jay Mohr, Johnny Galecki, Sean Patrick Flanery, Henry Thomas, Laura San Giacomo and Dennis Leary.OK, not quite the highest-of-profile names for the most part. But still, everyone does a worthwhile job. Only Walken, Leary and Galecki only really stand-out. Walken confirms the belief that any scene he's in--just flat-out works. Even when the screenplay gives him the most ludicrous insights: "But I come from out there, and everybody out there knows, everybody lies: cops lie, newspapers lie, parent's lyin'. The one thing you can count on - word on the street... yeah, that's solid." Uh-huh. That's why so many schoolyard and water-cooler rumors are considered holy fact.Walken sees how nervous they all are (who wouldn't be?) and attempts to get them to turn on each other. Seeing as it's a typical hostage situation with the victim being tied to a chair--he tries the usual of divide-and-conquer. "There's an inside guy. A mole," he tells them. "But who?" When they do finally start playing poker, Walken reads them easily.Leary has the most fun in his role doing what I suppose can best be described as "the quintessential Denis Leary role." He's "Denis Leary in the mob." Ranting about his wife and his expensive footwear. Doing a good deed and then bring down his usual Biblical wrath. Galecki is kind of fun as the rich worrywart nebbish whose family owns the place and seems a lot more concerned with mud being tracked on the floor, what happening to his father's favorite chair than the fact that a mobster is bound and he know everyone's name...All the other actors--they get a passing grade, but they don't quite stand out. "SUICIDE KINGS" is like that--hit-and-miss. The whole abduction is so badly planned--the movie itself even takes notice of this. At one point in the movie, Walken's character says to his captors: "You guys didn't think this through too good, did you?" Anyone with a handful of working brain cells will be thinking the same thing. I kind of wanted to ask the filmmakers this. The amount of obvious mistakes these guys make. Oh, they're clearly not professionals.The movie's screenwriters Josh McKinney, Gina Goldman and Wayne Allen Rice take Don Stanford's original short story "The Hostage" from and heavily "Quentin Tarantino-ize it." Some thought they paid homage real proper. Some thought all this seems like something at best he might have in the bottom of his drawer--and forgot about forever. Director Peter O' Fallon has real flair and style. He certainly films this thing with a lot of energy to spare. The kind we've seen best in... well, you know where. He gives a lot of wild-child style and so does everyone else involved.Heist/kidnapping movies that deal with "inside jobs" just gotta have that moment where the ship's going down in flame and the rats all turn on each other."SUICIDE KINGS" is still worth a look for a slow night. Better than a lot of the merde being crapped out of Hollywood's big uncreative anus. "SUICIDE KINGS" doesn't beat the house and take the pot, but like poker, it's not a bad way to spend a slow night with your friends. And in the end... Well... This is all pretty unbelievable. The ending however, is inevitable. And makes all the sense in the world.See, for me--The Suicide Kings seems more like Jon Favreau's "Swingers" than the Reservoir Dogs. Hey, maybe that was another source of inspiration!You might have to see it more than once to really get it all straight. Take notes, if you have to. Not to give anything away at all, but just to close it all on this one poetic line: "Sometimes the ends really do justify the means. Or at least define the meaning of the words 'karma' and 'justice'".--Having Really Enjoyed It, Dane Youssef

Frederick Smith A couple of years back, I was looking through a copy of Maxim magazine and I found a list of 20 films saved by having Christopher Walken in them. As you have probably guessed, Suicide Kings was among the 20, actually, I believe it was number 3.This was Peter O'Fallon's premiere film for the big screen (he has since made only one other, although he continues to direct numerous television series), and there are a lot of things that might have gone a little better. The dialog is weak in spots, the premise of a "made guy" going off with a bunch of preppy kids is a little off the wall, and the overall feel of the film drags from time to time. But that doesn't mean it is a total failure.As a matter of fact, just the opposite. Needless to say Walken and Leary come off exceptionally well, and the remainder of the cast is believable. Johnny Galecki comes off as Johnny Galecki, which is to say his dialog and acting are better suited to his current role in Big Bang Theory than to the big screen. Jay Mohr, well, I never have like Mohr, so I can tell you his character is passable, but he never quite rises to the level needed for his part. Henry Thomas and Sean Patrick Flannery both give good performances, and are really the two character who draw your interest. Jeremy Sisto as the medical student tending to Walken is more than adequate to the role, and you can see the young actor's ability flourishing into the actor he has become.As to the film itself, the plot, once you get past the implausible part, is good and moves pretty well, although there is a lot of exposition that seems pointless until you get to the very end. By then, unfortunately, you lose interest, unless you are a die hard Walken fan (guilty as charged).Since I have the DVD (yes, I pulled it out of the bargain bin at WalMart), I've watched the alternative endings and listened to O'Fallon's comments, and the one that struck me the most was his comparison of the final scene of the film to one in The Usual Suspects. Hmmm. Not even close, Pete.Rated R for violence, language, torture, and some nudity, this film is one you might want to rent just to see why television directors who are really good at their jobs should stick to television. Definitely a

hall895 Sometimes you just stumble upon a really good movie. Such is the case with Suicide Kings. Largely overlooked upon its initial release and by now all but forgotten this is a movie which deserved to be seen by a much wider audience. It's highly entertaining with a great balance of dramatic tension and humor. The story has enough twists in it to keep you guessing right up until the end.Christopher Walken plays the central role of businessman "Charlie Barret" around whom everything in our story revolves. Why is that character's name in quotes? Because while he's now gone legit once upon a time Charlie was mob kingpin Carlo Bartolucci. While he may be a little out of practice there is no doubt that Charlie is still a man to be feared. Which makes kidnapping him and cutting off one of his fingers a rather bad idea. But that is what a group of young men do, ostensibly because one of them has a sister who has just been kidnapped and her finger was cut off and...well, it's complicated. They think Charlie can use his old connections to find the girl and get the ransom money. Surely there had to be a better way to go about this than tying a mob boss to a chair and cutting off his appendages but that's their plan and they're sticking to it. But it doesn't take long for things to begin to unravel. And that's where the movie's fun truly begins.Walken is a delight and surely the best thing the film has to offer although Denis Leary runs him close with his profane, explosive performance as Charlie's bodyguard Lono Veccio. None of the actors playing the kidnapping "masterminds" really stands out but they work well together. And that is important as Charlie starts playing off these close friends against one another. Charlie's no dummy, he realizes very quickly that this whole sister being kidnapped story has holes in it large enough to drive a truck through. What's really going on here? Charlie pokes and prods and breeds distrust. He has his kidnappers questioning everything, most especially each other. Charlie's tied to a chair, down to nine fingers, slowly bleeding to death but somehow he's got the upper hand. Walken is spot-on perfect and his performance really elevates the film. And the smart story with all its twists and turns keeps you captivated throughout, playing along with the characters as you and they try to get to the real truth. It's not a perfect movie. When it tries too hard to be funny, most notably with the character of Ira played by Johnny Galecki who is obviously there for comic relief, the humor falls a little flat. Things work much better when the humor is more subtle. And for as obviously well-thought out as the plot is it doesn't quite all come together perfectly in the end. It all makes sense when you think about it but the movie does seem to get a little bogged down when it ultimately gets around to explaining itself. But all in all Suicide Kings works very well. Somewhat of a hidden gem.

KineticSeoul This movie is a fun "twisted thriller" with blood, violence and some entertaining twists. Christopher Walken's performance was great and the individualized performances of the younger cast members were good too. This film kept me interested from beginning to end to see who the inside man is. The film is a bit over dramatized but it sort of adds to the comedic values of the film. This was a entertaining thriller with some great cast with good lines, it was slick and cool. Although kidnap films has been done for a very long time, this is a cool movie that makes sense and is well worth your time.8/10