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There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Robert John Burke plays obese lawyer Billy Halleck, who accidentally runs down and kills an old gypsy woman with his car while he is receiving an on-the-move blow job from his wife. Successfully avoiding prosecution (thanks to his colluding pals, the local judge and police chief), Billy thinks his troubles are over, but they are only just beginning: Tadzu Lempke (Michael Constantine), father of the dead woman, uses gypsy magic to seek revenge, causing Billy to lose weight at an alarming rate.Fright Night director Tom Holland is the man behind this mid-'90s Stephen King adaptation, but having come straight from helming TV mini-series The Langoliers (also based on a King book), he gives his film the look and feel of a made-for-TV movie rather than a cinematic release, the director clearly struggling to make the transition back to the big-screen.It's not all bad news, though: the film breezes along at a reasonable pace, boasts decent make-up effects (courtesy of Greg Cannom), a little bit of gore (best being a neat 'hand with a hole' effect), and some welcome eye-candy in the form of sexy Kari Wuhrer as a gypsy temptress. While the film doesn't exactly rewrite the rules, there's never a boring moment and, much like Sam Raimi's similarly themed Drag Me To Hell, the film packs a neat twist at the end.

This engaging adaptation of the novel, which Stephen King wrote under his Richard Bachman pseudonym, stars the under rated Robert John Burke as Billy Halleck. Billy is a lawyer in Maine who happens to be grossly overweight. After he accidentally runs down an elderly Gypsy woman, his judge (John Horton) and cop (Daniel von Bargen) friends conspire to help Billy avoid any punishment. This infuriates the old womans' even more ancient father (Michael Constantine, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"), who places one of those old fashioned Gypsy curses on Billy. Stroking Billy's cheek, he utters one word: "Thinner". Soon, Billy is rapidly losing weight, which he enjoys at first, until he realizes that he really is going to waste away to nothing unless something is done.Just personally speaking, this viewer has a blast with this particular King story. Yes, it's unrelentingly downbeat, but he didn't mind that so much. And it's true: other than Billy's daughter Linda (Bethany Joy Lenz), there isn't a single character in the story who's remotely sympathetic. Still, this viewer found it refreshing that so many people here turn out to be such a-holes. It's a highly entertaining tale, well told by co-screenwriter and director Tom Holland ("Fright Night", "Child's Play"). And it's fortunately not completely without a sense of humor, although the humor tends towards the dark.There's wonderful music by Daniel Licht, but the real marvel of the movie is the astonishing, convincing makeup effects (supervised by Oscar winner Greg Cannom) that transform the thin Burke into an obese man. There's also a gem of a supporting performance by the always entertaining Joe Mantegna as a mafia man whom Billy had successfully defended in court. Therefore, the mobster feels indebted to the lawyer, and is more than willing to help Billy in his quest to convince the ancient Gypsy to remove the curse. The supporting cast is solid right down the line, with Lucinda Jenney as Billy's possibly unfaithful wife (the script tries to leave this aspect as ambiguous as possible), Sam Freed as a doctor friend, the intoxicatingly sexy Kari Wuhrer as Constantines' great granddaughter, Elizabeth Franz in a bravura turn as Hortons' wife, and Peter Maloney as an information provider. Director Hollands' son Josh plays Frank Spurton; King has his usual cameo (playing a pharmacist). What is a real laugh is the fact that actress Irma St. Paule, as the accident victim, actually looks OLDER than Constantine!Good gloomy fun, but it won't be to all "tastes", especially the ending.Eight out of 10.

This movie may not deserve an Academy Award by today's standards, but that's no way to measure a film. I had fun watching it the entire time, and the whole adaptation exudes Stephen King in spirit.Although the story is undoubtedly cheesy at points and the acting is as expected from a 1996 Stephen King adaptation, the whole production comes together into a charming piece of film that can (at the right moments) leave you in shock, and by the end you can't help but have a big sadistic grin on your face. I cannot recommend this more for an interesting night in. It's star rating doesn't do it justice. Simply entertaining.

Billy Halleck (Robert John Burke) is a fat arrogant defense lawyer. His wife Heidi (Lucinda Jenney) and daughter Linda (Bethany Joy Lenz) are trying to get him to lose weight. He wins a case for his mob boss client Richie Ginelli (Joe Mantegna). The police runs off a band of gypsies that had descended on the town. After a night out, Billy runs over an old gypsy woman. In the coroner's inquest, Billy gets off as various people cover for him. The gypsy elder Lempke places curses on the three men involved. Judge Cary Rossington (John Horton) is cursed with Lizard and his skin slowly turns to scale. Police Chief Duncan Hopely (Daniel von Bargen) is disfigured and commits suicide. Billy suspects Dr. Mike Houston (Sam Freed) of cheating with his wife but he's just trying to force him back to the clinic. He tracks down Lempke but his great-granddaughter Gina (Kari Wuhrer) shoots her slingshot through Billy's hand.This movie is a dare to root for this arrogant douche. It's much more likely that the audience is rooting for an ugly painful death. That could have been an interesting twist on the usual narrative. Instead, the movie keeps pushing this ugly character on the audience. The thinner he gets, the meaner he is. He's an ugly character that shrivels up into an even uglier character. A full length movie is probably too much time to spend with this guy. Nobody can truly take it for that long.