black comedy
Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discu ...
crime-thriller film
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...
Thomas Jane
Thomas Jane (born Thomas Elliott III; February 22, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for appearing in the films Padamati Sandhya Ragam (1987), ''Boogie Nights'' (1997), '' Deep Blue Sea'' (1999), '' The Punisher'' (2004), '' The Mist'' ( ...
,
Aaron Eckhart
Aaron Edward Eckhart (born March 12, 1968) is an American actor. Born in Cupertino, California, Eckhart moved to the United Kingdom at an early age. He began his acting career by performing in school plays, before moving to Australia for his h ...
,
Paulina Porizkova
Paulina Porizkova (born Pavlína Pořízková, ; 9 April 1965) is a Swedish model. Born in Czechoslovakia and raised in Sweden, Porizkova became the first Central European woman to appear on the cover of the ''Sports Illustrated'' swimsuit issu ...
,
Paula Marshall
Paula Marshall (born June 12, 1964) is an American actress.
Career
In 1990, Marshall had a guest role as Iris West, the love interest of Flash (Barry Allen) in the pilot episode on the short-lived '' Flash''. In 1991, she guest-starred on ''Supe ...
,
Michael Jeter
Robert Michael Jeter (; August 26, 1952 – March 30, 2003) was an American actor. His television roles included Herman Stiles on the sitcom ''Evening Shade'' from 1990 until 1994 and Mr. Noodle's brother, Mister Noodle, on the ''Elmo's World'' ...
and
Mickey Rourke
Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke Jr. (; born September 16, 1952) is an American actor and former boxer who has appeared primarily as a leading man in drama, action, and thriller films.
During the star of the 1980s, Rourke played supporting roles i ...
On Monday night, Nick, Dallas, and Billy Hill argue with a
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
convenience store cashier, resulting in Dallas shooting her dead. They conceal the killing from a police officer until he sees blood on the floor, at which point they kill him.
Early Thursday morning, in
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
, Casey receives a call from his old drug dealing partner Nick asking to stay a couple of days. Since they parted ways several years previously, Casey has cleaned up, married, and is hoping to adopt a child. Nick borrows Casey's car, and Casey finds Nick's suitcase to be full of heroin. Furious, he calls Nick and gives an
ultimatum
An ultimatum (; ) is a demand whose fulfillment is requested in a specified period of time and which is backed up by a threat to be followed through in case of noncompliance (open loop). An ultimatum is generally the final demand in a series ...
in which Nick either leaves or Casey calls the cops. Nick promises he'll be along once he has finished some business. Casey puts the heroin down his
garbage disposal unit
A garbage disposal unit (also known as a waste disposal unit, garbage disposer, garburator etc.) is a device, usually electrically powered, installed under a kitchen sink between the sink's drain and the trap. The disposal unit shreds food ...
.
At 11:55, Casey answers the door to hitman Ice. Casey asks that they smoke some
ganja
Ganja (, ; ) is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for marijuana. Its usage in English dates to before 1689.
Etymology
''Ganja'' is borrowed from Hindi/Urdu ( hi, गांजा, links=no, ur, , links=no, IPA: aːɲd ...
together before he dies, then takes advantage of a distraction. Ice ends up gagged and bound in Casey's garage just as Dr. Jarvis, the adoption agent, rings the doorbell. Casey, stoned, rushes to clear away the drug paraphernalia before letting Jarvis in to discuss his suitability to adopt. Jarvis expresses curiosity about what Casey did when he lived in Los Angeles, as there is no account of his time there. Casey tries his best to cover up his past as well as his recent encounter with Ice.
During the interview, Dallas shows up at Casey's house, believing that Nick has left some money with Casey along with the heroin. She scares Jarvis away by telling a story about Casey's criminal past. When left alone with Casey, Dallas questions him about the money. Angry that he cannot help her, she decides to kill him, but not before she ties him to a chair,
fellates
Fellatio (also known as fellation, and in slang as blowjob, BJ, giving head, or sucking off) is an oral sex act involving a person stimulating the penis of another person by using the mouth, throat, or both. Oral stimulation of the scrotum ma ...
him to force an erection, then proceeds to
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...
him. Dallas says she will not kill Casey until he
orgasm
Orgasm (from Greek , ; "excitement, swelling") or sexual climax is the sudden discharge of accumulated sexual excitement during the sexual response cycle, resulting in rhythmic, involuntary muscular contractions in the pelvic region chara ...
s and plans to continue until he does so. She orgasms multiple times, but gets no results from Casey. While Dallas reaches a third orgasm, Billy breaks in and shoots her.
Billy believes Casey when told that he has not taken the heroin, but plans on torturing him anyway with a saw and a
blowtorch
A blowtorch, also referred to as a blowlamp, is an ambient air fuel-burning gas lamp used for applying flame and heat to various applications, usually metalworking.
Early blowtorches used liquid fuel, carried in a refillable reservoir attach ...
. Billy is interrupted by cops raiding the house next door. As Billy is distracted, Casey is able to loosen the tape around his wrists and grabs a frying pan before he sits back down. When Billy returns, Casey catches him off guard, overpowers him, and leaves him in the garage.
Nick calls Casey from a payphone, apologizes for everything, and admits he had stolen the heroin and money from the police. After he hangs up, it is revealed that Nick has been shot and is dying from blood loss. Finally, corrupt cop Kasarov arrives with a bag which contains Nick's head. He gives Casey until 7 p.m. to find the money, but says that he does not care about the heroin. Upon seeing Dallas's body and Ice and Billy in the garage, Kasarov unloads his gun into the latter two. He tells Casey to throw them out, as it is garbage day.
Casey calls Ice's boss and tells him that the heroin is being auctioned off at 7 p.m. at his house, setting up a gun battle between a Jamaican gang and Kasarov's corrupt cops. Casey recalls Nick's earlier words, which lead him to find the money and a wedding present in the spare tire of his car. He takes them, puts them in Dallas's Lamborghini, and leaves to pick his wife up at the airport.
Cast
Critical response
On the
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has an
approval rating
An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions ...
of 43%, based on 7 critic reviews, with an average rating of 5.1/10.
Film critic
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy is an American film critic and professor who has taught at Columbia University, New School for Social Research, Wellesley College, Arizona State University and UCLA Film School. Levy currently teaches in the department of cinema ...
rated the film 2 out of 5 stars, while
Christopher Null
Christopher Null is an American writer, film critic, and columnist. A former blogger for Yahoo! Tech, he was the editor of Drinkhacker.com, and the founder and editor-in-chief of Filmcritic.com, which operated from 1995 to 2012. In 2003, CNN cal ...
granted it a 3 out of 5 star rating.
In his review of ''Thursday'', Roger Ebert of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...
'' vehemently condemned the film's offensive nature, declaring it crossed a line that left him outraged. He characterized the movie as a disturbing sequence of events involving torture, rape, murder, and dismemberment, all interwoven with derogatory sexist and racist language. Ebert's critique delved into the film's tone, expressing skepticism about its reliance on irony and laughter to shield the audience from a moral response. He questioned the film's choice to portray characters as murderers and torturers without justifiable motives, highlighting the gratuitous violence directed towards black, Asian, and Indian characters. He also drew a pointed comparison between the film and
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, dark humor, non-linear storylines, cameos, ensembl ...
's work, highlighting the distinction between Tarantino's artful treatment of risky subject matter and the exploitative nature of ''Thursday'', which he contended turned depravity into a standup routine. Ebert criticized the audience's lack of moral awareness during the Q&A session after the screening, where he confronted the director about the film's depiction of race and violence.
Brendan Kelly of ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' criticized the film as a subpar Tarantino imitation, stating that it offers only a few funny moments and fails to save itself from being labeled as a derivative retread. Kelly attributed this to director Woods' unapologetic borrowing from ''
Reservoir Dogs
''Reservoir Dogs'' is a 1992 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino in his feature-length debut. It stars Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Michael Madsen, Tarantino, and Edward B ...
'' and ''
Pulp Fiction
''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Vin ...
''. He suggested that the film's reliance on familiar hip and violent themes might find a more receptive audience in the video market than in theaters, given the current saturation of such content. Kelly praised Thomas Jane and Aaron Eckhart's performances, but characterized Paulina Porizkova's casting as a ruthless mob figure as a misstep.
Awards and nominations
At the
Cognac Festival du Film Policier The Festival du Film policier de Cognac ( en, Cognac Crime Film Festival) was an annual film festival that took place in Cognac, France from 1982 to 2007 (with no festival being held in 1991).A Simple Plan'').
It was nominated for an
Artios Award
The Casting Society, formerly known as Casting Society of America (CSA), was founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1982 as a professional society of about 1,200 casting directors and associate casting directors for film, television, theatre, and ...
in the category of Best Casting of an Independent Feature Film.
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...