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Thinner
- 359 statements
- 70 feature instances
- 16 referencing feature instances
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Thinner is a 1984 novel by Stephen King, published under his Richard Bachman pseudonym, and the last published under that name before a book store clerk exposed Bachman’s true identity.Obese lawyer Billy Halleck, charged with vehicular manslaughter after killing an old Romani woman, is acquitted thanks to his connection with the judge. As he leaves the courthouse, the 106-year-old father of the woman places a curse on him that causes him to rapidly lose weight. After learning that the Romani placed a curse on the judge (making him grow hideous scales on his face) and his other friend, a cop that lied on the stand to aid him (leaving his face pockmarked with huge zits), Halleck enlists the help of a former client and mob boss to terrorize the Romani to lift his curse.Adapted into a 1996 movie, with Robert John Burke as Halleck, Joe Mantegna as the mob boss, and Kari Wührer as a Romani (the ancient one's great-granddaughter, to be precise). | |
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Fat Suit | |
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Fat Suit: Burke had to wear one to play the obese lawyer at the beginning. | |
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Creator Cameo | |
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Creator Cameo: Stephen King appears as Dr. Bangor, who owns the pharmacy outside where the accident happened. | |
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| Thinner / int_1501e2dd | type |
Hero Antagonist | |
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Hero Antagonist: The Romani act as this to Halleck's Villain Protagonist, however becomes subverted when they murder a bystander paid to give Richie a signal just to send the protagonist a message. | |
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| Thinner / int_18d15922 | type |
Title Drop | |
| Thinner / int_18d15922 | comment |
Thinner - Billy Halleck's curse. Causes him to drop two pounds a day... until he is erased completely. It's initially a boon due to Halleck's morbid obesity, but he quickly learns that the weight loss will never stop on its own... Additionally, Billy Halleck's doctor was initially advising him to lose weight to prevent his getting a heart attack. Once Halleck loses enough weight, he actually comes closer to dying of a heart attack than he ever did when he was overweight. | |
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| Thinner / int_19fe3478 | type |
Daddy's Girl | |
| Thinner / int_19fe3478 | comment |
Daddy's Girl: Billy's daughter Linda. Billy notes to himself that Linda goes to her mother with questions like how many calories are in a piece of German chocolate cake, but when she has questions about sex, religion, and similar difficult subjects, she goes to him. | |
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| Thinner / int_1ba17583 | type |
The Ghost | |
| Thinner / int_1ba17583 | comment |
The Ghost: Billy employs private detectives to track down the Romani camp, and later those same detectives are looking for Billy for his wife, but none of them ever appear in person, we just see their reports and have Billy consider ways to evade them in his head. In the book (although not the movie) Harry the judge is referred to a lot but never appears in person: with the hit and run and the trial having taken place earlier, off-screen, and Harry having already snuck out of town to a hospital due to his curse by the time Billy wants to see him in person. | |
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| Thinner / int_1dfd19f9 | type |
Papa Wolf | |
| Thinner / int_1dfd19f9 | comment |
Papa Wolf: The reason why Taduz Lemke curses Billy, Judge Rossington, and Sheriff Hopley? All three of them were culpable the death of his daughter, Susanna and the lack of justice only made him angrier. When Billy finds out that Susanna was Taduz's daughter (originally he thougth she was his wife or sister) for a moment he understands Taduz, wondering how he himself would react if someone ran over his daughter. | |
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| Thinner / int_1f0c1d33 | type |
Couldn't Find a Pen | |
| Thinner / int_1f0c1d33 | comment |
Couldn't Find a Pen: A threatening message is sent to Halleck written in chicken's blood. | |
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| Thinner / int_269e82c1 | type |
Death of a Child | |
| Thinner / int_269e82c1 | comment |
Death of a Child: Poor Linda doesn't make it thanks to Billy's pie, which was intended for his wife. Unless Billy ate the pie himself to save her. | |
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Spoiled Sweet | |
| Thinner / int_29d26001 | comment |
Spoiled Sweet: Linda is doted on by her father and is one of the story's most sympathetic characters. She's upset without being bratty about the conflict between her parents and shows some naïve curiosity without being judgmental to either side when asking Billy about what happened with the car crash in the book. | |
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| Thinner / int_2dfc70ff | type |
Magical Romani | |
| Thinner / int_2dfc70ff | comment |
Magical Romani: Thinner is about an ancient Romani man who casts the book's titular Gypsy Curse as well as several others. | |
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The Topic of Cancer | |
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The Topic of Cancer: As their curses worsen, denials set in for Halleck, the judge, and their wives. Cancer is blamed and feared to be the case in place of the less rational reality. The Romani who cast the curses does actually have cancer, which accounts for the hole where his nose used to be. | |
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| Thinner / int_2f36d97 | type |
Older Than They Look | |
| Thinner / int_2f36d97 | comment |
Older Than They Look: Taduz Lemke is 106 years old but looks much younger. Billy thinks that the old woman he ran over was Lemke's wife or sister and is shocked to find out that she was Lemke's daughter. | |
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| Thinner / int_309b8806 | type |
Cursed with Awesome | |
| Thinner / int_309b8806 | comment |
Cursed with Awesome: Billy Halleck is cursed to rapidly lose weight even if he consumes eight thousand calories in one day, which is awesome at first because he was originally overweight and at high risk of heart problems. However, once it gets to the point where Billy is rapidly approaching the underweight category and is again at high risk of heart problems, the "Awesome" element is dropped entirely. | |
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Revenge Myopia | |
| Thinner / int_3184dfaa | comment |
Revenge Myopia: Downplayed. Lemke holds Halleck completely accountable for his daughter's death. While Halleck’s, err, distracted driving caused his daughter’s death, it was an accident and his daughter was jaywalking in the middle of the night so it was partially her fault as well. | |
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Even Evil Has Standards | |
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Even Evil Has Standards: After having his clan be terrorized by Ginelli, the old Romani decides to relent because of this: | |
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Investigator Impersonation | |
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Investigator Impersonation: Richie bluffs his way into the Romani's trust with a false FBI ID. | |
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Face Death with Dignity | |
| Thinner / int_396e1c2a | comment |
Face Death with Dignity: Averted, but Lemke suggests this to Halleck when giving him the pie. The pie would transfer the curse from him to whoever ate it (since it now contained the curse), and lift it from him. But Lemke suggests he eat the pie himself rather than make someone else suffer for him. "Why not eat your own pie, white man from town? You die, but you die strong." He feeds some pie to his wife, whom he despises and planned to pass the curse to; but eventually he does eat some of the pie, out of guilt after realizing he accidentally let his beloved daughter get some. | |
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| Thinner / int_44749cee | type |
Nothing but Skin and Bones | |
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Nothing but Skin and Bones: 6'2" Billy gets down to 118 pounds at his worst. | |
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I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure | |
| Thinner / int_4484e50a | comment |
I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure: After tracking down the Romani camp, Billy and Richie start targeting Lemke's family to force him to remove the curse. In the book, he terrorizes and shoots up the place while making some cold threats against people. In the film, Richie kills his granddaughter's husband and threatens to scar her face with acid. Lemke gives in and puts Billy's curse in a pie (although, in the book, he kills Richie as well). | |
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Dead Animal Warning | |
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Dead Animal Warning: Twice: In taking revenge against the Romani, Richie kills their dogs with cyanide "treats". In revenge for this, Gabe tracks down his henchman, kills him, gouges his eyes out, and stuffs a dead chicken in his mouth with a note mocking them saying that they won't remove the curse on Billy. | |
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Adaptational Alternate Ending | |
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Adaptational Alternate Ending: In both the book and the film, Billy Halleck gets the Gypsy Curse on himself lifted by forcing the sorcerer to place it inside a pie. Billy feeds it to his wife (whom he hates) before his daughter (whom he dotes on) eats a piece of it by mistake. Wracked with guilt, Billy then eats the pie himself. The movie added a subplot of a man that Billy suspects his wife is sleeping with, who rings the door right at that moment. Billy invites him in so he can have a slice of pie as well. The film also makes it more explicit that his daughter ate a piece of pie and was presumably infected with the curse too if it didn't stop with one victim. while in the book he only suspects it, albeit with good reason, after seeing two plates in the sink. | |
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Downer Ending | |
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Downer Ending: Both the film and book versions end with Billy's wife and daughter eating the cursed pie. While Billy intended to curse his wife, he did not mean to have his daughter eat it. Wracked with guilt, Billy decides to commit suicide by eating a piece of the pie as well. The film version goes further, as Billy invites a man he suspects has been cheating with his wife to have some pie along with him... | |
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A Friend in Need | |
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A Friend in Need: When his wife fails to believe he is cursed (and in fact conspires with a local doctor to commit him to a Mental Institution should he return home), Billy turns to Richie Ginelli, a Mafioso who he is acquainted with. Richie sends Billy a doctor, then shows up himself to wreak havoc on the Romani until they agree to lift the curse. He dies for his troubles but accepted that fact beforehand. | |
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Body Horror | |
| Thinner / int_504a1991 | comment |
The Romani who cast the curses does actually have cancer, which accounts for the hole where his nose used to be. | |
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Fat Bastard | |
| Thinner / int_51300dbf | comment |
Fat Bastard: Deconstructed. Billy Halleck is a seemingly nice guy with a good marriage and is a doting father (his daughter in fact prefers Billy to her mother). However, he is clearly aware of his firm's tie to The Mafia and is, in fact, good friends with a man who may be the head of the local mob family. After the accident, he doesn't deliberately use his connections to get him out of trouble, but he does nothing to dissuade them either. There is blame enough to go around, but no one is willing to accept the consequences of their actions. | |
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| Thinner / int_537dd8fe | type |
Affably Evil | |
| Thinner / int_537dd8fe | comment |
Affably Evil: Richie Ginelli is pretty friendly, if primarily towards Halleck for saving his ass in court. He's extremely vicious towards anyone whom he considers an enemy and goes on a rampage against the Romani to protect his friend and return the favor. | |
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| Thinner / int_55bf1a48 | type |
At Least I Admit It | |
| Thinner / int_55bf1a48 | comment |
At Least I Admit It: Hopley wearily acknowledges that he's earned Taduz's wrath even as Billy makes justifications. | |
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| Thinner / int_599f943f | type |
Karma Houdini Warranty | |
| Thinner / int_599f943f | comment |
Karma Houdini Warranty: The entire story. Originally Billy gets away with little more than a slap on the wrist thanks to his connections, but it turns out the old Romani that touched him actually gave him a devastating curse that causes him to waste away to nothing. And it wasn't just Billy who got cursed. The judge and police officer who helped him get away with it also get their just desserts with karmic curses... | |
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Ambiguous Syntax | |
| Thinner / int_5aa4ec8a | comment |
Ambiguous Syntax: Lemke's warnings about the curse being transferred "whoever" eats the pie make it a bit unclear if it will just kill the first person to eat from it, or anyone who eats a piece, making it slightly ambiguous whether Billy's whole family dies from eating the pie or just his wife, especially in the movie. | |
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| Thinner / int_61313315 | type |
Off the Wagon | |
| Thinner / int_61313315 | comment |
Off the Wagon: Billy recently quit smoking as a New Year's Resolution. When he's stressed out due to the inexplicable weight loss, he decides to take it up again, but the first few puffs make him so sick that he gives up. | |
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Dream Sequence | |
| Thinner / int_615fdb1f | comment |
Dream Sequence: Billy is plagued by nightmares, one of which takes up all of chapter 7. | |
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| Thinner / int_6654b17b | type |
Facial Horror | |
| Thinner / int_6654b17b | comment |
Facial Horror: The story contains three examples: Judge Rossington, who grows scales all over his body from his curse, which causes him to look like a humanoid lizard. Sheriff Hopley, whose face becomes covered in horrific, massive zits and pustules, making it look like he's rotting alive. Taduz Lemke himself, whose nose has been eaten away by cancer. | |
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Karmic Twist Ending | |
| Thinner / int_67c287fe | comment |
Karmic Twist Ending: Halleck gets the Romani to remove the curse from him. The Romani places it into a pie and tells him whoever eats it will be cursed in his place - or he could eat it himself, which would kill him, just a lot less painfully than starving to death would. He takes it home for his wife to eat, as he now hates her for giving him the handjob that caused him to run over the woman. She does... but so does his daughter. Oops. Guess he'll have a piece himself. The film adds Billy offering some pie to Dr. Mikey for having an affair with his wife. | |
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| Thinner / int_6a9c9b41 | type |
Brats with Slingshots | |
| Thinner / int_6a9c9b41 | comment |
Brats with Slingshots: Gina Lempke, great-granddaughter of Tadzu Lempke, is highly skilled with a slingshot, and even performs with it for money. She uses it to shoot a ball bearing through Billy's hand when he comes to the Romani camp to demand the curse is taken off, and it's strongly implied she killed Frank Spurton, the man Richie hired to spy on the Romani, with it. | |
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| Thinner / int_6d332aea | type |
Driven to Suicide | |
| Thinner / int_6d332aea | comment |
Driven to Suicide: The judge and the cop eventually both kill themselves. So does Halleck at the end, probably. | |
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| Thinner / int_7335ffa9 | type |
Grey-and-Gray Morality | |
| Thinner / int_7335ffa9 | comment |
Grey-and-Gray Morality: Neither the book nor the movie really has a bad guy or a good guy. Billy Halleck is a bit of an asshole but not evil, just a privileged white guy who can't bring himself to take responsibility for his actions, and he is desperate to avoid a painful death through a supernatural curse. Taduz Lemke is, understandably, furious over the death of his daughter, but said death genuinely was accidental, and Lemke consigns three men to agonizing deaths over it, heavily spurred on by the institutional racism he's faced his whole life. | |
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Spared by the Adaptation | |
| Thinner / int_7453bc5b | comment |
Spared by the Adaptation: Richie isn't killed by the Romani in the film. Depending on how the curse works with the pie, Billy and Linda might both survive thanks to Dr. Mikey's arrival. | |
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Impaled Palm | |
| Thinner / int_773b0523 | comment |
Impaled Palm: Gina shoots Halleck through the hand with a slingshot. | |
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Auto Erotica | |
| Thinner / int_798a9e41 | comment |
Auto Erotica: Halleck hit the old woman because his wife was giving him a handjob while he was driving. (The movie changes it to a blowjob.) | |
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Celebrity Paradox | |
| Thinner / int_7b8b3def | comment |
Celebrity Paradox: Halleck's doctor tells him at one point that he's "starting to sound a little like a Stephen King novel". (King originally published that book under his Pen Name Richard Bachman and made this reference to throw people off.) | |
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| Thinner / int_819b6384 | type |
Sympathetic Murderer | |
| Thinner / int_819b6384 | comment |
Sympathetic Murderer: Taduz Lemke. He inflicts one unique Gypsy Curse each on three people, with the full intention of it killing the victim, in one way or another. And yet he's doing this to avenge his daughter's death at the hands of a white town man when the supposed justice system failed to properly do this. Hopley, one of Lemke's victims, urges Halleck to see things from Lemke's point of view: | |
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Thinner / int_819b6384 | |
| Thinner / int_83445b04 | type |
Pun | |
| Thinner / int_83445b04 | comment |
Lizard - Judge Rossington's curse. This causes him to grow scales all over his body due to his cold-blooded nature as well as making a mocking pun on the idea of the Scales of Justice. | |
| Thinner / int_83445b04 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Thinner / int_83445b04 | featureConfidence |
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| Thinner | hasFeature |
Thinner / int_83445b04 | |
| Thinner / int_85557b38 | type |
Reality Is Unrealistic | |
| Thinner / int_85557b38 | comment |
Reality Is Unrealistic: There is a medical condition in which skin becomes actual scales. One case had a woman's hair becoming fingernails. | |
| Thinner / int_85557b38 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Thinner / int_85557b38 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Thinner | hasFeature |
Thinner / int_85557b38 | |
| Thinner / int_8797239c | type |
Bait-and-Switch | |
| Thinner / int_8797239c | comment |
Bait-and-Switch: In the movie, when Richie confronts Gina in the barn, he opens up a mason jar that seemingly contains acid and throws the contents onto her face. After she screams in pain: | |
| Thinner / int_8797239c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Thinner / int_8797239c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Thinner | hasFeature |
Thinner / int_8797239c | |
| Thinner / int_898ff050 | type |
Villain Protagonist | |
| Thinner / int_898ff050 | comment |
Villain Protagonist: Billy Halleck, who is dealt a Gypsy Curse and uses desperate means in an attempt to get it off... and yet clearly is enough of an asshole that he deserves it. | |
| Thinner / int_898ff050 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Thinner / int_898ff050 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Thinner | hasFeature |
Thinner / int_898ff050 | |
| Thinner / int_8ed5c6e4 | type |
Asshole Victim | |
| Thinner / int_8ed5c6e4 | comment |
Asshole Victim: Halleck, the judge, and the cop. Dr. Mikey could qualify also, as do the Romani (at least in the movie) once Richie enters the scene. | |
| Thinner / int_8ed5c6e4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
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| Thinner | hasFeature |
Thinner / int_8ed5c6e4 | |
| Thinner / int_969b13a6 | type |
Hot Gypsy Woman | |
| Thinner / int_969b13a6 | comment |
Hot Gypsy Woman: Gina Lemke is one. Kari Wuhrer plays her in the film. | |
| Thinner / int_969b13a6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Thinner / int_969b13a6 | featureConfidence |
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| Thinner | hasFeature |
Thinner / int_969b13a6 | |
| Thinner / int_973d220f | type |
Never My Fault | |
| Thinner / int_973d220f | comment |
Never My Fault: Billy Halleck blames everybody but himself for his having run Susanna Lemke over, including Susanna herself. Taduz Lemke even tells Billy that he feels a bit sorry for him when they meet for the last time because he can't take responsibility: "You tell yourself you can't be asked to pay for it - there is no blame, you say. It slides off you because your shoulders are broken." | |
| Thinner / int_973d220f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Thinner / int_973d220f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Thinner | hasFeature |
Thinner / int_973d220f | |
| Thinner / int_984ef9ef | type |
"Not So Different" Remark | |
| Thinner / int_984ef9ef | comment |
"Not So Different" Remark: As soon as Billy learns that Susanna Lemke was the old man's daughter, he briefly muses over the vengeance he would wreak on someone if Linda were killed. | |
| Thinner / int_984ef9ef | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Thinner / int_984ef9ef | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Thinner | hasFeature |
Thinner / int_984ef9ef | |
| Thinner / int_9a69794d | type |
AppropriatedAppelation | |
| Thinner / int_9a69794d | comment |
Appropriated Appelation: After the old Romani derisively calls Halleck "White Man from Town", he uses the phrase to intimidate them into taking the curse off. | |
| Thinner / int_9a69794d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Thinner / int_9a69794d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Thinner | hasFeature |
Thinner / int_9a69794d | |
| Thinner / int_9fe35833 | type |
Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas | |
| Thinner / int_9fe35833 | comment |
Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Mobster Richie Ginelli adores his Italian mother and loves to keep her around. | |
| Thinner / int_9fe35833 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Thinner / int_9fe35833 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Thinner | hasFeature |
Thinner / int_9fe35833 | |
| Thinner / int_a1b141f4 | type |
My God, What Have I Done? | |
| Thinner / int_a1b141f4 | comment |
My God, What Have I Done?: Halleck says this almost word-for-word in the movie, when he finds out that his daughter had some of the cursed pie that he brought home for his wife. | |
| Thinner / int_a1b141f4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Thinner / int_a1b141f4 | featureConfidence |
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| Thinner | hasFeature |
Thinner / int_a1b141f4 | |
| Thinner / int_a4cd4fc6 | type |
Cruel Twist Ending | |
| Thinner / int_a4cd4fc6 | comment |
Cruel Twist Ending: The movie pushes the ending towards this with the added subplot of Dr. Mikey, who Halleck suspects his wife is cheating on him with. After the original ending, he's just about to tuck in to a piece of pie, Dr. Mikey knocks on the door. ...And he invites him in for a piece of pie. | |
| Thinner / int_a4cd4fc6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
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1.0 | |
| Thinner | hasFeature |
Thinner / int_a4cd4fc6 | |
| Thinner / int_abdf7d09 | type |
Weirdness Censor | |
| Thinner / int_abdf7d09 | comment |
Weirdness Censor: Billy's wife, his physician, and the specialists he goes to see refuse to believe that Billy is cursed, despite finding nothing wrong with him in any of their tests. Defied by Richie Ginelli, who believes Billy upon seeing him and hearing his tale. Richie states that he can accept a supernatural cause because his high-stakes criminal lifestyle demands that he recognize threats when they appear - and refusing to acknowledge a threat as dangerous as Billy's curse would be suicidal. | |
| Thinner / int_abdf7d09 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Thinner / int_abdf7d09 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Thinner | hasFeature |
Thinner / int_abdf7d09 | |
| Thinner / int_ac2094ca | type |
Red Shirt | |
| Thinner / int_ac2094ca | comment |
Red Shirt: Richie's employee Frank is killed quickly without doing anything of importance or real interest. | |
| Thinner / int_ac2094ca | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Thinner / int_ac2094ca | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
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Thinner / int_ac2094ca | |
| Thinner / int_b486877f | type |
Squick | |
| Thinner / int_b486877f | comment |
The ultimate result of eating a slice of the cursed pie. In the book, Lemke warns Billy that whoever eats it will not only take on his withering curse, but it will be five-fold stronger. In the film, it is mentioned that the curse will be stronger, but we also get a chance to see exactly how when Billy gives his cheating wife a slice... The pie completely desiccates her body and turns her into a bizarre corpse-pie mishmash. Which Billy then kisses. And then eats, nibbling on a bit of crusty lip that Billy espouses as delicious... But then reminds himself that he probably shouldn't have too much of. | |
| Thinner / int_b486877f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Thinner / int_b486877f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Thinner | hasFeature |
Thinner / int_b486877f | |
| Thinner / int_b773ec0e | type |
DidNotThinkThisThrough | |
| Thinner / int_b773ec0e | comment |
Did Not Think This Through: After Billy tells the Gypsies that if they don't take the curse off he will subject them to "the curse of the white man from town" they laugh, dismiss his threats and refuse to remove the curse. Given that they already knew he was a rich lawyer with sufficient connections to escape a vehicular manslaughter charge it may have been prudent to take him a bit more seriously. | |
| Thinner / int_b773ec0e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Thinner / int_b773ec0e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Thinner | hasFeature |
Thinner / int_b773ec0e | |
| Thinner / int_b9fd7929 | type |
Morality Chain | |
| Thinner / int_b9fd7929 | comment |
Morality Chain: Billy surprisingly acts one towards Richard Ginelli, asking the latter not to hurt anyone as he sets out to scare the Romani into lifting the curse. | |
| Thinner / int_b9fd7929 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Thinner / int_b9fd7929 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Thinner | hasFeature |
Thinner / int_b9fd7929 | |
| Thinner / int_ba101b2a | type |
Weight Loss Horror | |
| Thinner / int_ba101b2a | comment |
Weight Loss Horror: One of the archetypical examples. Billy's extreme and potentially lethal weight loss is treated like the terrifying nightmare that it no doubt would be. | |
| Thinner / int_ba101b2a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Thinner / int_ba101b2a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Thinner | hasFeature |
Thinner / int_ba101b2a | |
| Thinner / int_c335b9ec | type |
Irony | |
| Thinner / int_c335b9ec | comment |
Irony: Deliberately invoked by the curses Taduz Lemke inflicts... Lizard - Judge Rossington's curse. This causes him to grow scales all over his body due to his cold-blooded nature as well as making a mocking pun on the idea of the Scales of Justice. Unknown - Sheriff Hopley's curse. The name of the curse was not given, but it gives him horrendous acne. And by "horrendous", we don't mean "looks like chickenpox" - we mean... well... It could be seen that he helped both the Judge and Halleck save face but could not save his own face as well as his "rotten" nature. Thinner - Billy Halleck's curse. Causes him to drop two pounds a day... until he is erased completely. It's initially a boon due to Halleck's morbid obesity, but he quickly learns that the weight loss will never stop on its own... Additionally, Billy Halleck's doctor was initially advising him to lose weight to prevent his getting a heart attack. Once Halleck loses enough weight, he actually comes closer to dying of a heart attack than he ever did when he was overweight. | |
| Thinner / int_c335b9ec | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
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| Thinner | hasFeature |
Thinner / int_c335b9ec | |
| Thinner / int_ce104b8e | type |
Serial Escalation | |
| Thinner / int_ce104b8e | comment |
Serial Escalation: After Billy enlists Richie's help against the gypsies they engage in increasingly damaging attacks on each other involving poisoning the gypsies dogs, Richie's henchman being murdered and eventually Richie shooting up the camp with a machine gun. | |
| Thinner / int_ce104b8e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Thinner / int_ce104b8e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Thinner | hasFeature |
Thinner / int_ce104b8e | |
| Thinner / int_cf1b706e | type |
Flat-Earth Atheist | |
| Thinner / int_cf1b706e | comment |
Flat-Earth Atheist: Defied by Richie Ginelli. After Billy's disastrous first encounter with the Romani, Richie surveys his emaciated friend and immediately concludes that he's been cursed. The mobster says that while he may be an atheist, he's also willing to face facts: | |
| Thinner / int_cf1b706e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Thinner / int_cf1b706e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Thinner | hasFeature |
Thinner / int_cf1b706e | |
| Thinner / int_d001c42c | type |
Anti-Villain | |
| Thinner / int_d001c42c | comment |
Anti-Villain: Taduz Lemke places a curse on the man responsible for his daughter's death as well as the two men who helped cover it up. Any sympathy you had is diminished, however, when they brutally murder a bystander paid to give Richie a signal just to send the protagonist a message. | |
| Thinner / int_d001c42c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Thinner / int_d001c42c | featureConfidence |
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| Thinner | hasFeature |
Thinner / int_d001c42c | |
| Thinner / int_d2c125f3 | type |
Gypsy Curse | |
| Thinner / int_d2c125f3 | comment |
Gypsy Curse: Three, to be precise: The titular one, the "lizard" one on the judge, and the mega-acne one on the cop. | |
| Thinner / int_d2c125f3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Thinner / int_d2c125f3 | featureConfidence |
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| Thinner | hasFeature |
Thinner / int_d2c125f3 | |
| Thinner / int_e3c20140 | type |
As Long as It Sounds Foreign | |
| Thinner / int_e3c20140 | comment |
As Long as It Sounds Foreign: The passages supposedly in the Romani language are, in fact, in Swedish, and mostly gibberish. | |
| Thinner / int_e3c20140 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Thinner / int_e3c20140 | featureConfidence |
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Thinner / int_e3c20140 | |
| Thinner / int_e784bb8c | type |
Accidental Truth | |
| Thinner / int_e784bb8c | comment |
Accidental Truth: Hopley testified that Billy was sober, deliberately failing to do a breathalyzer on him. Billy was in fact sober during the accident, although he had been guilty of a different kind of reckless negligence. | |
| Thinner / int_e784bb8c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
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1.0 | |
| Thinner | hasFeature |
Thinner / int_e784bb8c | |
| Thinner / int_f1492605 | type |
Redemption Equals Death | |
| Thinner / int_f1492605 | comment |
Redemption Equals Death: Billy Halleck finally takes responsibility for his actions when he discovers that his daughter, who was in no way responsible for Susanna Lemke's death, has eaten a slice of the Romani pie and is doomed to die of the curse that Billy Halleck brought upon himself and passed on to his wife for jerking him off. He decides to eat a slice of the Romani pie himself, choosing to join his wife and child in death. | |
| Thinner / int_f1492605 | featureApplicability |
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Thinner / int_f1492605 | |
| Thinner / int_fcd9b657 | type |
Gallows Humor | |
| Thinner / int_fcd9b657 | comment |
Gallows Humor: After Halleck becomes emaciated: "You finally found a diet that works!" | |
| Thinner / int_fcd9b657 | featureApplicability |
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The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
| Thinner | hasFeature |
A Friend in Need / int_9204d9b5 | |
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American Literature (T to Z) / int_9204d9b5 | |
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As Long as It Sounds Foreign / int_9204d9b5 | |
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Auto Erotica / int_9204d9b5 | |
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Brats with Slingshots / int_9204d9b5 | |
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Curse / int_9204d9b5 | |
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Doomed Protagonist / int_9204d9b5 | |
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Films of 1995–1999 / int_9204d9b5 | |
| Thinner | hasFeature |
Impaled Palm / int_9204d9b5 | |
| Thinner | hasFeature |
Nothing but Skin and Bones / int_9204d9b5 | |
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Psychological Horror / int_9204d9b5 | |
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Sympathetic Murderer / int_9204d9b5 | |
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Thinner | |
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This Is Reality / int_9204d9b5 | |
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Transformation Horror / int_9204d9b5 | |
| Thinner | hasFeature |
Weight Loss Horror / int_9204d9b5 |
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