The Mafia Comedy With Goodfellas Star That Bombed Incredibly Hard
There’s nothing more amusing than a well-executed comedy of errors, and 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag is an extremely effective (and underrated) film that falls into this category.
When it comes to Joe Pesci’s more humorous roles, I’d put his portrayal of Tommy Spinelli up there with Vinny Gambini from My Cousin Vinny and Harry Lime from Home Alone. Though Pesci plays it straight in this film like a total gangster, he generates the most laughs through his character’s rage because of his innate ability to upset everybody he encounters.
8 Heads in a Duffel Bag
8 Heads in a Duffel Bag starts out with eight severed heads (in a duffel bag) that belong to the bodies of rival gang members. Tommy, who wasn’t present for the actual execution of the eight men, is hired by Benny (Joe Basile) and Rico (Anthony Mangano) to transport the heads to a crime boss known as Big Sep in order to prove that they were executed.
Why a simple Polaroid picture couldn’t have sufficed is beyond me, but 8 Photos of Dead Mobsters Faxed to a Crime Boss doesn’t exactly have a nice ring to it either.
Tommy Getting To Work
Tommy immediately gets to work, brings the titular duffel bag to the airport, and sneaks it past security by planting a loaded gun into the coat pocket of the woman standing in front of him at the security check.
It just so happens that a young medical student named Charlie Pritchett (Andy Comeau) is carrying a very similar black duffel bag that’s packed with regular stuff, like clothing, and his toothbrush. 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag’s conflict shouldn’t come as a surprise when Tommy accidentally walks off with Charlie’s luggage, and Charlie accidentally walks off with the eight heads.
An Error At Baggage Claim
Charlie is on his way to a Mexican resort with his girlfriend, Laurie (Kristy Swanson), so he can meet her parents, Dick (George Hamilton) and Annette (Dyan Cannon), for the first time.
Upon realizing that a serious error was made at the baggage claim, Jimmy begins his search for the correct bag in 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag, and Charlie has to explain to Laurie, and her family, why he’s in the possession of eight severed human heads.
Charlie, who’s simply trying to make a good first impression on Laurie’s parents in 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag, makes matters worse because of the chaos that ensues at the resort because of his unfortunate satchel switcheroo. Meanwhile, Jimmy tracks down Charlie’s roommates, Ernie (David Spade) and Steve (Tod Louiso).
Well-Acted Throughout
Fearing for their lives, Ernie and Steve not only assist Jimmy in locating Charlie, but also (unwillingly) try to get Jimmy out of his jam through very questionable means.
8 Heads in a Duffel Bag is well-acted and escalates its mishaps perfectly over the course of 95 minutes. One aspect about this film that I thoroughly enjoyed is that there’s no real clear antagonist, but rather two main characters who are stuck in a sticky situation. Jimmy and Charlie both get equal screen time, and both get under each other’s skin whenever they’re given the opportunity to do so, and I found myself rooting for both of them for different reasons.
Better Than You Would Think
While Jimmy is clearly a “bad guy” in 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag because of the nature of his work, he’s simply trying to get the job done.
Charlie, who’s way over his head (pun intended), causes unnecessary conflict because he’s clearly traumatized by the entire ordeal, which leads to poor decision-making on his part. If Jimmy never crossed paths with Charlie, they would have just gone their separate ways.
Don’t let the 10 percent critical score on Rotten Tomatoes fool you because 8 Heads in a Duffel bag is a solid series of mishaps with a tight screenplay if you’re into this kind of movie. Surprisingly enough, the worst kind of violence you’ll see in this movie comes in the form of Joe Pesci destroying payphones whenever he hears upsetting news throughout his travels.
Streaming 8 Heads in a Duffel
REVIEW SCORE
I really wanted to give 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag a second chance because the last time I saw it was on Comedy Central with the kind of made-for-TV editing that’s typical of ‘90s daytime cable television screenings.
I’m happy to report back that this movie holds up, and I’ll definitely be watching it on Tubi again when the timing is right.
