Thursday (1998)

Written and Directed by Skip Woods

In the wave of post-Tarantino (yes, it's an entire era now) filmmaking, there were many imitators and style-lifters of the Tarantino way of dialogue, visual style, use of violence, and the juxtaposition of errant lifestyles against those of regular, warmhearted Americans. This film, in my opinion, is the better of the bunch which includes Guy Ritchie's films (although they are different enough in their own right). Roger Ebert called this film racist, and since I don't have the book right in front of me, I can't quote exactly why, but I believe it was mostly because of the use of the word "nigger", the portrayal of the few black characters in the film, and the treatment of an Arabian convenience store clerk (which would have been the same if she was white, black, or purple). Still, I think Ebert is just mad at the lack of Tarantinian (yes, a real word in Hollywood) quality, and the fact that a great actor like Samuel L. Jackson was involved with Tarantino, thus automatically making his material not racist, even if Spike Lee has some serious problems with Tarantino's work. (Or anyone else that has ever used the word nigger in any way)

Thursday starts, as you guessed it, on the day in question, where the crooked Nick (the always fantastic Aaron Eckhart) arrives in Houston, where he calls his old pal Casey (Thomas Jane) who has settled into the quiet life with a nice life as an architect and husband. Casey is glad to see Nick, but right away he can tell something is up, as soon as Nick leaves to handle some business, Casey roots through Nick's briefcase, only to find a whole bunch of heroin. Immediately pissed, he flushes it all down the sink.

From the opening scene, we are introduced to Nick's character, his true nature, is, in a funny and violent scene in a convenience store that sets up the plot of the rest of the film. Casey, on the other hand, we're not so sure about. We know he is a friend of Nick's, just because of their embrace and the fact that he lets Nick come stay at his house. Other than that, we are led to draw our own conclusions, until the obligatory expository flashback is heaped upon us.

What happens to Casey the rest of the film is of consequence, but really, that's the heart of the film, and the fun is watching him squirm through the entire situation. Of course, some people (the rest of the characters in the film) are on the lookout for Nick himself, or more specifically, his luggage. This is where things try to rely too heavily on the darkly comedic aspect of the story. Yes, a lot of the parts are funny, but too many times they are so "movie" you can't help but laugh at the film, not with it. By "movie" of course, I mean things that could only ever happen in a film, split-second desicions and happenstance actions. I wouldn't say it ruins the film, which I still enjoyed quite a bit, but at the same time, it takes away from a lot of the things I really liked about the film.

The cinematography is excellent, a look is created that rivals Tarantino's view of skewered suburban society, where most of the action takes place during the daytime, and leaves you asking "Aren't most people working at this time?" That's the type of film it is though, it's about the same type of characters that Tarantino writes. However, they are neither as deep as Tarantino's characters, nor do they end up doing anything as thoughtful. Imagine if Tarnatino made a movie with a series of cliches, instead of a movie about cliches. Here lies Thursday.

It's easy to see why both Thomas Jane and Aaron Eckhart are both leading men, they each give a certain charisma to their characters, in a film populated by ultimately forgettable characters. Also, the director has Mickey Rourke playing yet another variation of himself, this time a cheesier and more "movie" version of himself than other, better films. Don't take this as a detractor however, I still enjoyed him and the movie as a whole, I just kept thinking of how low-end the entire thing reeked, and how it could have been a lot better. Some people will say it's not fair to judge a film based on what it could have been, to merely see it as it is, but that defies criticism. That's just a person reaching for their personal opinion from someone else.

Ultimately, the story has elements that are really well written, an underlying theme that ends up being better than the pieces of the movie seperately. It's not a great film, but if you like the subject matter and violence involved in films from guys like Ritchie and Tarantino, then this movie is definitely for you. Otherwise, you might not see a lot in this film, you might just run around trying to stifle it as a racist piece. Anyone that has lived in Los Angeles knows it's the opposite of Crash, where racism is prevalent (as in Crash) but not in the mocking and silly way as presented in that film. It's an accepted evil, just like the traffic and the bad air. It's a part of everyday life, and people still manage to go on with their business in spite of it.

As an add on, I saw this film in its uncut form, I understand the R version had 4 minutes cut from it, and I don't really see why, other than the fact that the MPAA are a bunch of nitpickers, because this film really doesn't have anything in it worse than anything Tarantino or Rodriguez has done.

8.2/10