8 Heads in a Duffel Bag

Plot synopsis:
Tommy Spinelli (Joe Pesci) is a wiseguy hired by a pair of dimwitted hit men to transport a duffel bag full of severed heads across the United States to a crime boss (as proof of the deaths). While on a commercial flight, his bag is accidentally switched with that of Charlie Pritchett (Andy Comeau), a friendly, talkative, young American tourist who is going to Mexico to see his girlfriend Laurie (Kristy Swanson) and her parents (George Hamilton and Dyan Cannon).
The film revolves around Spinelli harassing Charlie's friends Ernie (David Spade) and Steve (Todd Louiso) for information, while Charlie and Laurie attempt to get rid of their rather unfortunate luggage.
After Charlie meets with Laurie and her parents at the airport with the wrong bag, they go to their rooms at the resort in Acapulco, Mexico. Soon, Annette, Laurie's mom, mistakenly thinks that Charlie might be a serial killer on the run once she sees a head in his bag while hiding a gift for him inside the bag. Her husband thinks it's all a delusion brought on by her alcoholism.
At first, Charlie and Laurie tried to bury the heads in the desert, but a group of thugs steals their car. Then Charlie comes up with an idea that he will give back the heads without anyone noticing, by pretending he forgot to turn in his report back at his college. In turn, everyone packs up for the airport. At the airport, Charlie accidentally puts a severed head in Dick's carry-on bag, causing him to get arrested. They never leave Acapulco since they have to come up with a new plan to save Dick.
Meanwhile, Tommy, Ernie, and Steve start to look for replacement heads, after Charlie tells Tommy he lost one. They start to look in a cryonics lab, where they store bodies and severed heads, much to Tommy's approval. After getting the replacement heads, Tommy and the others get on a plane and head to Mexico. Tommy threatens Charlie that if he loses more heads, he'll replace them with Charlie's friends and family. After hearing of the airport incident, Benny and Rico decide to collect the heads for themselves.
When Fern, Dick's mother, arrives in Mexico, Tommy takes her and the others hostage as he helps Charlie find more heads. They find out that a coyote took one of the heads from the stolen car. Tommy also realizes that Benny and Rico are going to kill him if he doesn't get the heads across the border in time. Charlie comes up with a plan to save both their lives.
The film ends when Charlie and Laurie take a severed head to the airport to prove her father's innocence. Benny and Rico try to intervene, but end up getting arrested. It is revealed that Tommy and Charlie set them up. Charlie thanks him for his help, as Tommy departs to Hawaii. Steve goes insane and starts running around the airport, telling security guards that a severed head is his "best friend".
Charlie and Laurie get married, with her mother and father present, Steve is in a straitjacket, Ernie is a brain surgeon, Fern is also present after being thrown out of a moving van when she started to bad-mouth Tommy, and Tommy is enjoying his retirement.

Tags: murder

Review:
Joe Pesci is great as a Mafia man assigned to bring back the heads of 8 'hits' he has made on the West coast.
Enter a medical student, with a similar looking bag, his girlfriend and her family and you have the recipe for good crude comedy.
Fine acting by most of the actors, in the sense that they manage to capture the uproarious mood of the movie throughout, with its series of laugh-invoking antics designed to prevent innocent people of knowing what's in the duffel bag, while seeking to try to either get rid or exchange for the correct bags.
Nothing special or brilliant, but it does what it sets out to do which is to make you laugh - and it does so much better than most films of its kind.I started watching this expecting to change channels quite quickly.
I only gave it a chance at all because Joe Pesci was in it - which is never a bad asset for a film.
Well-written, nicely-paced, silly without being annoying, and containing some funny performances and a lot of good moments, you will like this one if you give it a chance..
I liked it, not all the time, but it was OK.Joe Pesci is a mobster who has two days to deliver 8 heads of other criminals to his boss.
Not only embarrassing for a great actor like Joe Pesci, but also for the guy who came up with them.
8 Heads in a Duffel Bag is a great example of a perfect situation comedy film.
The acting of the film, most notably that of Joe Pesci and David Spade, is such a huge part of the comedy that the film definitely couldn't have had otherwise.
Tommy Spinelli (Joe Pesci) is a mob guy transporting 8 heads across the country as proof of deaths.
When she finds the heads, everybody thinks she's drunk.Joe Pesci is aggressively hateful and not in a funny way.
Except for Pesci, the film has a bunch of second rate acting talent involved in a silly make-it-up-as-you-go story about a gangster who's transporting the duffel bag and, of course, gets it mixed up with a similar duffel bag in airport baggage claim (how original) and....blaa, blaa.
It starts off very promising with a funny premise and some really good humor.But - wow - does terrible acting start to take over by the two leads, Andy Comeau and Kristy Swanson!
George Hamilton did a poor job, sounding very wooden.Only Joe Pesci and Dyan Cannon gave any kind of acting performances in this dark comedy.
Often, I love black comedies but this movie was just so poorly executed, so convoluted and overly mean-spirited, it was a waste of time.
Joe Pesci's character is so utterly repugnant that you kind of watch  him with a sense of awe and wonder if he's really as bad as he seems.
Sure, there's nothing funny about a bagman carrying the heads of eight murdered men across the country, but this movie is a scream.
Essentially a one-joke movie dragged on from start to finish, EIGHT HEADS IN A DUFFEL BAG is not especially good.
Second best "head in a bag" movie ever ..........
"8 Heads in a Duffel Bag" starts as black comedy, but eventually morphs into nothing more than slapstick.
Nevertheless, the strong, "dark" first half, along with above average comedy material saves the movie, and compared to some of today's lame comedies, I can recommend seeing "8 Heads in a Duffel Bag." - MERK.
The luggage of mobster delivery boy Tommy (Joe Pesci), carrying 8 human heads, gets mixed up at the airport with the luggage of medical student Charlie who's on a vacation in Mexico to first meet his future parents-in-law.
Tommy desperately needs his mob-hit proof back and Charlie already has a hard time making a good impression to his girl's parents.
These simple basics, that already were the inspiration for many lame comedies, are completed with further slapstick story lines like the hunt for replacement heads (when some of the original go missing), neurotic mothers-in-law and dumbass mafia guys.
The first 15 minutes are so filled with delightful black humor and witty one-liners (Joe Pesci is in great shape) that they give you impression you're in for a swell comedy.
Unfortunately, 8 Heads in a duffel Bag quickly turns into an overly hectic and unoriginal time-waster, better fit for TV.
8 heads in a duffel bag is ideal late-night TV material, providing you with a few laughs and modest grins.
The entire cast tries hard (in Dyan Cannon's case, TOO hard), and there are some sporadic laughs, but overall this is a pretty desperate - not to mention appallingly racist - comedy.
Alot of my friends recommended this movie to me saying it was good and down right hilarious.
I amaze there are people proud to sign this pathetic boring poor work, product of an ignorant head emptier than the eight ones in the bag.And to complete the mediocre job, it contains insulting jokes about Mexico that would deserve my scorn if i'll ever think about this forgettable movie again.
"8 Heads in a Duffel Bag" is a hilarious goofball comedy in the tradition of Weekend at Bernies, Billy Madison, There's Something about Mary, Dumb & Dumber, The Stupids, etc..Who really cares about plot - look at the title??
When the heads broke out into song ("Mr Sandman") I was laughing tears.David Spade annoyed me but this minor flaw can be discarded by screaming "Up Your Ziggy with a WahWah brush" everytime he comes on screen - helped me relax!Entertainment Scale: 8/ 10Overall: 7/10.
There are two main kinds of ridiculous movies, in my opinion:(1) movies that are ridiculous because they have too many flaws in one or more of the following areas: (a) overly hyperkinetic (b)  overly draggy (c) merely vehicles for displaying shock (e.g. violence, gore, profanity, nudity) (d)  movies with such an obvious lack of focus and direction as if they're trying to be all things to all people and  pleasing nobody (e)  Movies that try to appear to be deep and intellectual by presenting a bunch of meaningless mishmash(2)  Movies that are ridiculous, because that's what they'reintended to be (Think:  THREE STOOGES)In my opinion, 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag, falls into this last category of ridiculous movies!
We all felt that the plot was well written, the actors carried the film nicely and that we couldn't have picked a better movie to take a break with.
1st watched 3/18/2001 - 5 out of 10 (Dir-Tom Schulman): This comedy is funny at times, but doesn't go over the top and use what could have been a very funny movie premise to it's utmost.
You might think that this would be a good vehicle for Pesci to show his comedic talents, but the most laughs come from other people.
The film begins auspiciously enough; Tommy (Joe Pesci) a middleman for two assassins is hired to transport eight severed heads to their mob boss to prove their owners are dead.
While on board the plane, Tommy meets Charlie (Andy Comeau) a college student set to meet his girlfriend (Kristy Swanson) and her parents (George Hamilton & Dyan Cannon) in Mexico.
Aside from Pesci, the only person who really hits a home run is Ernestine Mercer who plays Swanson's no-nonsense grandmother."8 Heads" however, is a fun time waster and manages to keep things light despite its dark subject matter.
Maybe "8 Heads in a Duffel Bag" isn't so bad if we just accept it as totally ridiculous.
Joe Pesci plays a hit-man who has to deliver several heads, but lo and behold, he gets the wrong bag, leading to some rather predictable situations.As for the rest of the cast, David Spade provides some laughs during the scenes that he shares with Joe Pesci; other than that, not even George Hamilton or Dyan Cannon seem able to do anything (Kristy Swanson, I believe, is best known for "Buffy the Vampire Slayer").
To make matters worse, the movie makes Mexico look like a place where you can only expect to get drug into unpleasant situations, whether on the street, in a hotel, or in the airport.Oh well.
The guy who plays the wanna-be doctor is really bad, just like the other mostly-unknown actors, at least watching the movie Italian-dubbed.It's like a full-lengh sit-com turned crap, with some nice moment thanks to Pesci and Spades, and the granny at the end!
Joe Pesci plays more of a though guy than I expected, that's wrong.
A mob bagman (Joe Pesci) finds that his luggage, containing the proof of his latest hit, has been switched.This was a nice departure for David Spade, stepping away from "Saturday Night Live", though still staying within comedy.
There are plot holes, and the last third of the movie, when all the characters are together, becomes somewhat confusing.I will admit that I did laugh a few times, mostly at Pesci's behavior and one-liners.
It isn't a particularly funny film, although David Spade and Joe Pesci are really funny in this.
David Spade and Joe Pesci are excellent and it's a different kind of film.
"8 Heads in a Duffel Bag" should have worked better than it does.
"8 Heads in a Duffel Bag" is what you should look at if you ever think Joe Pesci is unstoppable.
Not that the movie doesn't have its moments, but on a level of film as a whole it just does not quite deliver as many laughs as it should.It's not an awful comedy, but it's not a particularly fine one, either.I have a great respect for Joe Pesci is an actor, from his character Tommy DeVito in "Goodfellas" to Leo Getz in "Lethal Weapon" 2-4.
Joe Pesci plays a gangster named Tommy Spinelli, whose current job is to deliver the heads of eight powerful gangsters to a man in San Diego who will accept them as evidence that their owners are dead.
Unfortunately, Pesci's duffel bag is switched at an airport with an identical bag owned by Charlie (Andy Comeau, who is heading to Mexico for vacation with his fiancee.
Joe Pesci holds this movie together on his own.
The other characters don't seem to be very dimensional, and while Pesci's Spinelli isn't as deep as, say, Tommy DeVito from "Goodfellas," his streak of humor makes up for this."8 Heads in a Duffel Bag" should have worked better than it does.
Joe Pesci is pretty much sending up the roles he played so well in films like Goodfellas and Casino.
Joe Pesci plays a hit- man named Spinelli who makes an accidental switcheroo with an impressionable young fellow named Charlie (Andy Commeau).
After a horrible discovery when he opened his bag finding 8 severedheads, Charlie and his fiance Laurie (Kristy Swanson) desperately try to ditch the bag of heads in a nice, unassuming place, while Spinelli roughly interrogates Charlie's pal Ernie (David Spade)Though with an expectedly good premise, "8 Heads in a DuffelBag" is a droll excuse for a comedy.
Even the usually great talents of Joe Pesci can't save this sicko film..
Based upon the accidental switch of a duffle bag, containing 8 heads that are supposed to convince a mobster about the death of some of his enemies, the movie lingers on about on the one end the guy who gets the heads and tries to get rid of them, on the other the one who has lost them and needs them back.
8 Heads in a Duffel Bag (1997): Dir: Tom Shulman / Cast: Andy Cameau, Joe Pesci, Kristy Swanson, George Hamilton, Dyan Cannon: This film couldn't be any worse if it was scribbled on toilet paper.
For whatever reason Joe Pesci must deliver eight heads in a duffel bag to his boss but on a plane the bag gets in the possession of Andy Cameau who is on his way to Mexico to see his girlfriend and meet her parents.
Pesci is wonderful in 8 HEADS IN A DUFFEL BAG, playing his sadistic mobster shtick to the hilt.
However, a little bit of Pesci goes a looooong way: halfway into the picture, I realized that his brand of dark comedy had seeped into every comic situation, rendering the movie a sordid mess.I have nothing against dark comedy, but 8 HEADS IN A DUFFEL BAG doesn't so much push the envelope as rend it asunder.
It was the great comic set-piece wherein Pesci's mobster is asleep and dreams that the eight severed heads of the movie's title come to life and begin singing "Mr. Head Man" (to the tune of "Mr. Sandman") like seasoned recording artists.
You won't laugh your head off at "8 Heads in a Duffel Bag" because this decapitated comedy of errors is about as funny as a frontal lobotomy.
Pint-sized Joe Pesci of "Goodfellas" plays Tommy, a combustible, crew-cut, wise-guy who must deliver a duffel bag of eight heads to a vengeful crime boss.
Andy Comeau co-stars as a clean-cut college kid named Charlie, with a duffel bag of duds, bound for a weekend in Mexico with his cute girlfriend Laurie Bennett (Kristy Swanson of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") and her stuffy parents.
When Tommy learns he has snagged the wrong bag, he heads off for Charlie's college fraternity house.
He tortures Charlie's two pin-headed med school pals Ernie (David Spade) and Steve (Todd Louiso) who cannot tell Tommy a thing because they know nothing about Charlie's plans.
By this time, writer & director Tom Schulman has devoted half of the movie to time spent in Mexico on the labored comedy of characters up to their ears in head games.
Tommy looks like a headbanger who wandered in from a Martin Scorsese bloodbath.You know you're in trouble at a comedy when the movie allots more time to the exposition than the gags.
You know you're watching an empty-heded comedy when the movie characters resort to jokes about the film.
When one of the characters suggests a better plan than what the writer gave to the star, you know you're in a bad movie.
You'd at least mark your bag if you were toting around severed body parts, right?Compared with the wise guys that he impersonated in "Goodfellas" and "Casino," Pesci's errand boy Tommy is just plain cranky.
Spade sleepwalks through a role that demands very little of his enormously dry talent."8 Heads in a Duffel Bag" belongs to the corpse comedy genre.
The movie, therefore, was too light for a good dark comedy (give me Very Bad Things, or Dr. Strangelove any day of the week), and too dark to appeal to the mass audience.
Another aspect of the movie that I did not like was Pesci's character had a conscience.
**Spoiler****Spoiler**  It was really hilarious when Pesci throws her over the cliff, and Cannon says, "I thought the old battleaxe would never die."  The rest of the movie did not deal with disgusting events, with a couple exceptions, and just was too silly for a dark comedy.
8 Heads in a Duffel Bag starts out pretty slow, and has a few moments that had me snickering, but about half way through the movie it gets a lot more entertaining.
The actress that played the grandma is named Ernestine Mercer and it's too bad she couldn't save more movies like this because her comedy was so natural.
This is one of Joe Pesci's best movies.He sure can play a terrific hit man is all I got to say!The story from start till finish doesn't have any second with boredom in it..
Joe Pesci is the right guy to pull off something like this, he's a lot like the character Tommy DeVito he portrays in 1990's "Goodfellas".
Look, no one's going to confuse this with being a great movie in any way but it's relatively entertaining if you like Pesci and his wise guy manner.
Too bad that often happens to good films.This film is about you guessed it...Eight heads in a duffel bag.
They are supposed to be delivered to a gangster, but end up in the wrong hands and the laughs follow them on their journey.Joe Pesci and Dyan Cannon made me laugh the most here and the rest of the cast were fine too, even if David Spade is in it and is annoying.Pesci has his normal gangster attitude in this movie and thats the Pesci we love, there is no one like him in the biz and he's just one in a million.This movie is worth a watch to anyone that likes their comedies wacky and love to see people getting in weird predicaments.
8 HEADS IN A DUFFEL BAG is good to rent, but I wouldn't buy it.
In the end that was a good thing as I had a solid belly laugh or two while watching it this time around.
It also reminded me of what a hilarious comedic actor Joe Pesci was at the time and how I'm sure fans would love to see more of him now.The movie tells the story of Tommy (Pesci), a mid-level mobster/bagman whose been given an assignment: take the heads of 8 recently wiped out mobsters from the east coast to San Diego and top dog Big Sepp as proof they've been killed.
His time on the airplane both in getting the heads on and the problems he encounters there off the first few laughs.On the plane he sits next to Charlie (Andy Comeau), a pre-med student on his way to spend the weekend with his girlfriend Laurie (Kristy Swanson) and her parents Dick and Annette (George Hamilton and Dyan Cannon) in Mexico.
The character comes off like an early John Cusak sort but he doesn't quite have the acting chops yet to pull it off.The best part of the film: a dream sequence where Pesci has lined up all 8 heads on a desk in his motel room and they come alive and start singing "Mr. Sandman".
A Genuine Comedy That Made Me Laugh My Head Off !.