| Thursday | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Skip Woods |
| Written by | Skip Woods |
| Produced by | Alan Poul Christine Sheaks Skip Woods |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Denis Lenoir |
| Edited by | Peter Schink Paul Trejo |
| Music by | Luna |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Legacy Releasing[1] |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 87 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $3,121[2] |
Thursday is a 1998 Americanblack comedycrime-thriller film written and directed bySkip Woods and starringThomas Jane,Aaron Eckhart,Paulina Porizkova,Paula Marshall,Michael Jeter andMickey Rourke. It won the Special Jury Prize at theCognac Festival.
On Monday night, Nick, Dallas, and Billy Hill argue with aLos Angeles convenience store cashier, resulting in Dallas shooting her dead. They conceal the killing from a police officer until he sees blood on the floor, at which point they kill him.
Early Thursday morning, inTexas, Casey receives a call from his old drug dealing partner Nick asking to stay a couple of days. Since they parted ways several years previously, Casey has cleaned up, married, and is hoping to adopt a child. Nick borrows Casey's car, and Casey finds Nick's suitcase to be full ofheroin. Furious, he calls Nick and gives anultimatum in which Nick either leaves or Casey calls the cops. Nick promises he'll be along once he has finished some business. Casey puts the heroin down hisgarbage disposal unit.
At 11:55, Casey answers the door to hitman Ice. Casey asks that they smoke someganja together before he dies, then takes advantage of a distraction. Ice ends up gagged and bound in Casey's garage just as Dr. Jarvis, the adoption agent, rings the doorbell. Casey, stoned, rushes to clear away the drug paraphernalia before letting Jarvis in to discuss his suitability to adopt. Jarvis expresses curiosity about what Casey did when he lived in Los Angeles, as there is no account of his time there. Casey tries his best to cover up his past as well as his recent encounter with Ice.
During the interview, Dallas shows up at Casey's house, believing that Nick has left some money with Casey along with the heroin. She scares Jarvis away by telling a story about Casey's criminal past. When left alone with Casey, Dallas questions him about the money. Angry that he cannot help her, she decides to kill him, but not before she ties him to a chair,fellates him to force an erection, then proceeds torape him. Dallas says she will not kill Casey until heorgasms and plans to continue until he does so. She orgasms twice, but gets no results from Casey. While Dallas reaches a third orgasm, Billy breaks in and shoots her.
Billy believes Casey when told that he has not taken the heroin, but plans on torturing him anyway with a saw and ablowtorch. Billy is interrupted by cops raiding the house next door. As Billy is distracted, Casey is able to loosen the tape around his wrists and grabs a frying pan before he sits back down. When Billy returns, Casey catches him off guard, overpowers him with the frying pan, and leaves him in the garage.
Nick calls Casey from apayphone, apologizes for everything, and admits he had stolen the heroin and money from the police. After he hangs up, it is revealed that Nick has been shot and is dying from blood loss. Finally, corrupt cop Kasarov arrives with a bag which contains Nick's head. He gives Casey until 7 p.m. to find the money, but says that he does not care about the heroin. Upon seeing Dallas's body and Ice and Billy in the garage, Kasarov unloads his gun into the latter two. He tells Casey to throw them out, as it is garbage day.
Casey calls Ice's boss and tells him that the heroin is being auctioned off at 7 p.m. at his house, setting up a gun battle between a Jamaican gang and Kasarov's corrupt cops. Casey recalls Nick's earlier words, which lead him to find the money and a wedding present in the spare tire of his car. He takes them, puts them in Dallas'sLamborghini, and leaves to pick his wife up at the airport.
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, the film has anapproval rating of 43%, based on 7 critic reviews, with an average rating of 5.1/10.[3]
Film criticEmanuel Levy rated the film 2 out of 5 stars, whileChristopher Null granted it a 3 out of 5 star rating.[3]
In his review ofThursday,Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times vehemently condemned the film's offensive nature, declaring it crossed a line that left him outraged. He characterized the movie as a disturbing sequence of events involving torture, rape, murder, and dismemberment, all interwoven with derogatory sexist and racist language. Ebert's critique delved into the film's tone, expressing skepticism about its reliance on irony and laughter to shield the audience from a moral response. He questioned the film's choice to portray characters as murderers and torturers without justifiable motives, highlighting the gratuitous violence directed towards black, Asian, and Indian characters. He also drew a pointed comparison between the film andQuentin Tarantino's work, highlighting the distinction between Tarantino's artful treatment of risky subject matter and the exploitative nature ofThursday, which he contended turned depravity into a standup routine. Ebert criticized the audience's lack of moral awareness during the Q&A session after the screening, where he confronted the director about the film's depiction of race and violence.[4]
Brendan Kelly ofVariety criticized the film as a subpar Tarantino imitation, stating that it offers only a few funny moments and fails to save itself from being labeled as a derivative retread. Kelly attributed this to director Woods' unapologetic borrowing fromReservoir Dogs (1992) andPulp Fiction (1994). He suggested that the film's reliance on familiar hip and violent themes might find a more receptive audience in the video market than in theaters, given the current saturation of such content. Kelly praised Thomas Jane and Aaron Eckhart's performances, but characterized Paulina Porizkova's casting as a ruthless mob figure as a misstep.[5]
At theCognac Festival du Film Policier the film won the 1999 Special Jury Prize (tied withA Simple Plan).[6]
It was nominated for anArtios Award in the category of Best Casting of an Independent Feature Film.[7]