by Vera Khano
Staff Writer
8 Heads in a Duffle Bag
**1/2 stars
The title pretty much says it all - the most important aspect of the plot.
Tommy (Joe Pesci) is a Mafia gangster, and he must carry the heads of recently whacked thugs to the guy who paid for the whacking. This way, it can be proven that the murders were carried out as directed.
Trouble and conflict arises when Tommy accidentally gets his duffel bag switched with Charlie's (Andy Cameau) bag. Tommy tries to track down Charlie at a Mexican resort, but instead finds the medical student's roomies, Steve (Todd Louiso) and Ernie (David Spade). When the trio meet up with Charlie in Mexico, all of them must try to stay alive, despite Tommy's homicidal tendencies. Confusing - probably, but pretty amusing.
The beginning of the film sort of drags a little, but once Charlie discovers the heads and Tommy finds Steve and Ernie, the laughs come fast.
The "head" man in charge of all this silliness is Oscar-winning screenwriter Tom Schulman. Having written the Academy Award winning screenplay Dead Poet's Society and the hilarious What About Bob?, the director/writer had to do quite a bit of research for this bizarre comedy.
Schulman didn't exactly arrive at the number eight by accident. There were conversations with local coroners about how big heads are and how much they weigh (for the record, a dead head weighs 4.4 pounds with the blood drained out). When he figured six would definitely fit and seven would too, he thought eight heads being stuffed in would be the perfect setting for a hilarious mix-up.
So what fascinated Pesci about the script? "Absolutely nothing," Pesci confessed in the press notes. As a matter of fact, Pesci's exotic personality and humor are what actually made the film interesting and kept it from being just another tired comedy.
Comeau (Charlie), Kristy Swanson (Laurie Bennett), Spade (Ernie) and Louiso (Steve) all handled their comedic performances as well. Spade plays a smart-ass, yet it ties in nicely with the film's sometimes uneven tone.
All in all, the comedy flows fluently and the performers play it broad and shrill. Pesci has definitely seen brighter days in his acting career, but 8 Heads make for a mildly amusing diversion.