Years ago there was a movie shop that imported DVDs, which I visited regularly. Every week they mailed a newsletter which had various movie lists and interesting reviews of movies I never heard of.
One of the movies they talked about was Thursday, which was hard to get as it was only available by importing it from Germany. Because the staff had written raving reviews I decided to order this movie. As things usually go when I buy a movie it might take a while before I actually watch them. In this particular case it took years before I finally got around to seeing it. Is it a fine wine that I had left to ripen or is it a waste of time?
The movie starts out great with the introduction of criminals Nick (Aaron Eckhart), Dallas (Paulina Porizkova) and Billy Hill (James LeGros) who are trying to get some coffee in a 7/11, but end up having a long conversation about it with the woman behind the counter who refuses to give Nick the extra things he should get, because he didn’t get the right size cup. As you watch it, it doesn’t take long to realise that director and writer Skip Woods must have been inspired by Quentin Tarantino as he tries to emulate his style with both the dialog and violence.
Casey Wells (Thomas Jane) used to work with Nick, but has left his criminal life behind him and is now living a normal life. He has a good job and together with his wife he is trying to adopt a child.
When Nick suddenly shows up at his doorstep the question is whether Casey can maintain his calm. Nick borrows his car and asks him to babysit a briefcase while he’s gone. When various people visit the house asking about the briefcase it doesn’t take long before things become violent.
Although the movie is inspired by Tarantino, it never reaches the same level as something like Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs. Still the movie offers a story with lots of laughs, suspense and violence, which will surely shock some people. Roger Ebert trashed the movie, which I can understand, although I did enjoy watching it. Skip this movie if you are easily offended, otherwise you should give this movie a chance.
Score: 8