| 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Tom Schulman |
| Produced by | Jeffrey D. Ivers Brad Krevoy Steve Stabler |
| Written by | Tom Schulman |
| Starring | Joe Pesci Andy Comeau Kristy Swanson George Hamilton Dyan Cannon David Spade Todd Louiso |
| Music by | Andrew Gross |
| Cinematography | Adam Holender |
| Editing by | David Holden |
| Studio | Rank Film Distributors |
| Distributed by | Orion Pictures Corporation |
| Release date(s) | April 18, 1997 |
| Running time | 95 minutes |
| Country | United States United Kingdom |
| Language | English Spanish |
| Box office | $3,602,884 |
8 Heads in a Duffel Bag is a 1997 black comedy film starring Joe Pesci and David Spade. It was the directorial debut of screenwriter Tom Schulman. In 1998 the film won the Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film's Silver Raven award.
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Tommy Spinelli (Joe Pesci), is a wiseguy hired by a pair of dimwitted hit men to transport a duffel bag full of decapitated heads across the country to a crime boss (as proof of the deaths). While on a commercial flight, his bag is accidentally switched with that of Charlie Pritchett (Andy Comeau), a friendly, talkative, young American tourist who is going to Mexico to see his girlfriend Laurie (Kristy Swanson) and her parents. The film revolves around Spinelli harassing Charlie's friends Ernie (David Spade) and Steve (Todd Louiso) for information, while Charlie and Laurie attempt to get rid of their rather unfortunate luggage. The film ends with Charlie and Laurie bringing a severed head to the airport, in order to prove her father's innocence. Benny and Rico try to intervene, but end up getting arrested. It is revealed that Tommy and Charlie set them up, as Tommy departs to Hawaii. Steve goes insane by running around the airport, telling security guards that it's his "best friend." During the credits, Charlie and Laurie get married with her mother and father present, Steve is now placed in a strait-jacket, Fern is also present after being thrown out of a van, Ernie is now a brain surgeon, and Tommy is enjoying his retirement.
The film on the whole was not critically well-received. Although Roger Ebert praised Pesci's performance as being "the best thing in the movie; he's funny every moment he's on the screen", he remarked that the rest of the movie underperformed as a comedy.[1] Entertainment Weekly's Bruce Fretts was even harsher to the entire production, giving the movie a rating of 'F' and further stating that it "aims for dark farce but ends up playing more like Weekend at Bernie's VIII".[2]
The film holds a rating of 11% (rotten) at Rotten Tomatoes based on 17 reviews.[3]
The film was a box-office flop, earning just under $4 million in its entire theatrical run.[4]