''Bookies'' is a 2003 German

comedy thriller Comedy thrillers are a hybrid genre that draw subject matter generally from comedy and thrillers. Criteria They often include a darker tone, relative to other genres, of humor. List of comedy thriller films * '' The Big Fix'' (1978) * ''Charad ...

film written by

Michael Bacall Michael Bacall (born Michael Stephen Buccellato;: "Le petit Michael Bucellato qui a choisi le pseudo de Michael Bacall..." April 19, 1973) is an American screenwriter and actor, known for having co-written the films ''Scott Pilgrim vs. the World ...

and directed by

Mark Illsley Mark Illsley (born June 4, 1958) is a film director best known for writing and directing the film ''Happy, Texas'', which starred William H. Macy and Steve Zahn, and directing ''Bookies''. Illsley was raised in Santa Rosa, California where he m ...

. It stars

Nick Stahl Nicolas Kent Stahl (born December 5, 1979) is an American actor. Starting out as a child actor, he gained recognition for his performance in the 1993 film ''The Man Without a Face'', co-starring Mel Gibson. He later transitioned into his adult ...

Lukas Haas Lukas Daniel Haas (born April 16, 1976) is an American actor and musician. His acting career has spanned four decades, during which he has appeared in more than 50 feature films and a number of television shows and stage productions. Early life ...

Johnny Galecki John Mark Galecki (born April 30, 1975) is an American actor. He played Leonard Hofstadter in the CBS sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory'' (2007–2019) for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination, and David Healy in the ABC sitcoms '' Ro ...

, and

Rachael Leigh Cook Rachael Leigh Cook (born October 4, 1979) is an American actress and model. She has starred in the films ''The Baby-Sitters Club'' (1995), ''She's All That'' (1999), and ''Josie and the Pussycats'' (2001), and in the television series '' Into th ...

. The story revolves around the lives of four college students.

Plot

Three college students, Toby, Casey, and Jude, start up a bookie business taking bets from various clients. Their business immediately booms, arousing suspicion among local campus authorities and Toby's girlfriend, Hunter. They subsequently are able to purchase many expensive items such as big-screen televisions and new computers to help them manage their complex business. When their business takes off, Jude receives threats from two local Italian bookies to back down because of their territories for the business overlap. When a plan by Jude fails to materialize when betting on the college's team to win the game, Toby devises a way to eliminate the threat from the other bookies and get them out of the business. Jude makes a bet with the two Italian bookies, letting them choose whatever game and winner they want, which ends up being a boxing match. Knowing the game would be fixed, Jude and the others liquidate all of their assets and bet all of their earnings on the boxing match. The underdog on which they placed the bet won. Some money went to pay off the Italian bookies, while the remaining spoils were divided amongst the three. Jude drops out of school and Toby says that "he wasn't the first genius to flunk out of college." Casey changes his major, gets new friends, makes the dean's list, and doesn't see Toby much. Toby continues at college and uses his money to get through grad school. He plays Hunter in a

foosball Table football, also known as foosball, table soccer, futbolito in Mexico, Taca Taca in Chile and Metegol in Argentina is a table-top game that is loosely based on association football. The aim of the game is to move the ball into the opponen ...

match to win another chance with her after having lost her love through the ordeal. In a post credits scene, the two Italian bookies are seen arguing as they struggle to start a chainsaw, to kill a man previously unseen in the film whom they abducted and had placed in their car's trunk. The film ends as the two get the chainsaw started.

Cast

as Toby *

as Casey *

as Jude *

as Hunter *

David Proval David Aaron Proval (born May 20, 1942) is an American actor, known for his roles as Tony DeVienazo in the Martin Scorsese film ''Mean Streets'' (1973), Snooze in ''The Shawshank Redemption'' (1994), Siegfried in ''Four Rooms'' (1995) and as Rich ...

as Larry *

John Diehl John Henry Diehl (born May 1, 1950) is an American character actor. Noted for his work in avant-garde theater, Diehl has performed in more than 140 films and television shows, including ''Land of Plenty'', ''Stripes'', ''City Limits'', ''Nixon' ...

as Vincent *

Julio Oscar Mechoso Julio Oscar Mechoso (May 31, 1955 – November 25, 2017) was an American actor who played detective Ruiz in '' Bad Boys'' and appeared in such films as ''Blue Streak'', ''Jurassic Park III'', ''The Legend of Zorro'', '' The Lost City'', '' Li ...

as Martinez * Zuri Williams as Duane * Dwight Armstrong as Abraham * Steve Hudson as Julius Garrett * Errol Trotman-Harewood as Professor Felix * Catherine Britton as Tammy

Reception

''Bookies'' received mixed to positive reviews.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bookies (Film) 2003 films 2000s coming-of-age comedy-drama films 2000s comedy thriller films American coming-of-age comedy-drama films American crime comedy-drama films American comedy thriller films German crime comedy-drama films German coming-of-age comedy-drama films German comedy thriller films English-language German films American independent films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films shot in Cologne German independent films Films scored by Christopher Tyng 2003 independent films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films 2000s German films