History Film / Thursday

** The cashier at the beginning of the film is a prime example. Anyone who has worked in late night jobs of this sort will have enocuntered odd and slightly menacing customers. In this case, the cashier not only provokes and bickers with a gorup of people who look sketchy and appear slightly threatening, but she actually tells them to their faces that she is going to call the police on them. The inevitable consequences occur as a result..

Casey Wells (Creator/ThomasJane) is a former UsefulNotes/LosAngeles drug dealer who decides to turn over a new leaf and start a new life for himself. So saying, Casey eventually relocates to the suburbs, with his new wife Christine (Creator/PaulaMarshall), and makes a living for himself as an architect. Things seem to be going well for Casey, as he and Christine are in the process of adopting a child, however, Casey's DarkAndTroubledPast comes back to haunt him, when his former partner-in-crime Nick (Creator/AaronEckhart) ends up dragging him in the middle of a deal that has gone bad, which includes the stunningly beautiful but completely perverted Dallas (Creator/PaulinaPorizkova).

The movie marked the debut of writer/director Skip Woods, whose style of excessively violent and gory black comedy has often been compared to that of Creator/QuentinTarantino... so much so, in fact, that many conspiracy theorists put forward the idea that 'Skip Woods' was actually a psuedonym for Tarantino. (It also didn't help that, at least at the time, no known photos of Woods had ever been released publicly.) However, a blisteringly critical contemporary review from Creator/RogerEbert mentions his personally confronting Woods about the film's content during a public Q&A at a film festival, and so even at the time it was known that Skip Woods was clearly a different person.

The movie marked the debut of writer/director Skip Woods, whose style of excessively violent and gory black comedy has often been compared to that of Creator/QuentinTarantino... so much so, in fact, that many conspiracy theorists have offered the possibility that Skip Woods is actually a psuedonym for Tarantino (it also doesn't help that, at least at the time, no known photos of Woods had ever been released publically). However, a blisteringly critical contemporary review by (Creator/RogerEbert) mentions his personally confronting Skip Woods at a public Q&A at a film festival about the film's content, and so even at the time it was known that Skip Woods was clearly a different person.

''Thursday'' is a 1998 BlackComedy movie written and directed by Skip Woods. The film stars Creator/ThomasJane as Casey Wells, a former UsefulNotes/LosAngeles drug dealer who decides to turn a new leaf, and start a new life for himself. So saying, Casey eventually relocates to the suburbs, with his new wife Christine (Creator/PaulaMarshall), and makes a living for himself as an architect. Things seem to be going well for Casey, as he and Christine are in the process of adopting a child, however, Casey's DarkAndTroubledPast comes back to haunt him, when his former partner-in-crime Nick (Creator/AaronEckhart) ends up dragging him in the middle of a deal that has gone bad, which includes the stunningly beautiful but completely perverted Dallas (Creator/PaulinaPorizkova).

!!''This film provides examples of:''

** Ice, the jamaican hitman who comes to Casey's house, and who is fine with sitting down to smoke some pot and chat with Casey before offing him.

* VillainousRescue: Dallas tells Casey she's gonna kill him once she's done having sex with him, but she never gets the opportunity since Billy comes in and shoots her. Doesn't mean that Casey is safe just yet, as Billy plans to torture Casey before killing him.

* ObviouslyEvil: Kasarov. Despite his casual demenour and apparent willingness to let Casey off the hook and even help him patch up his life, it's immediately clear that he is evil even compared to the rest of the characters. That'sestablished when he shows Casey the head of Nick.

* GroinAttack: Happened to Ballpeen in his backstory, when a woman bit off his member during a DateRape went wrong. Apparently they later found and reattached it, but the function of it was still lost.

** With just a few moment to arm himself, the hero grabs a frying pan, and then recalls that he has a handgun in the fridge (it's a long story). Granted, he had a very stressful day, and in the end he made do with the pan as well.

* PrettyLittleHeadshots: Averted when Billy shoots Dallas in the head while she's raping Casey. Her death is every bit as messy as you'd expect a headshot from a .45 bullet.

* VillainousRescue: Dallas tells Casey she's gonna kill him once she's done having sex with him, but she never gets the opportunity since Billy comes in and shoots her.

The movie marked the debut of writer/director Skip Woods, whose style of excessively violent and gory black comedy has often been compared to that of Creator/QuentinTarantino... so much so, in fact, that many conspiracy theorists have offered the possibility that Skip Woods is actually a psuedonym for Tarantino (it also doesn't help that, at least at the time, no known photos of Woods had ever been released publically).

* IdiotBall: The cashier at the beginning of the film. She provokes and argues with a number of people who clearly appear odd, and are slightly threatening towards her. She then informs them to their faces that she is going to call the police on them, leading to her death.

* KarmicDeath: The police officer at the start. Nick gives him a free coffee and he leaves the convenience store, but his greed makes him return to claim a free pastry (there is an offer giving cusotmers who purchase a coffee a free pastry). Even though he clearly didn't but the coffee in the first place, he returns to demand a pastry, and is killed by Nick & Dallas.

* AssholeVictim: Almost everybody. The cashier, the Jamaican, Dallas, Billy, Kasarov in the present, Ballpeen in the past. The patrolmen at the start may be an exception, but [[CorruptCop police is portrayed quite unsympathetically]].

* FauxAffablyEvil: Billy, who discusses drinks with Casey and keeps his cheery and upbeat attitude at all times, even as he's about to start cutting Casey into pieces. Also Kasarov, the most friendly and non-confrontational guest that Casey had after Nick, who even helps Casey tie up loose ands and appears to offer him a clean way out of the whole situation - but he's obviously lying.

* GuileHero: Casey. In the past he displays no less wits than he does capacity for violence, and in the present, when he no longer relies on violence, he uses wits to keep himself alive multiple times throughout the film and to eventually come out on top.

* PrettyLittleHeadshots: Averted when Billy shoots Dallas in the head while she's raping Casey. Her death is every bit as messy as you'd expect a headshot from a .45 bullet.
* ProperlyParanoid: Nick does not tell Casey any important details of what he's doing or where he hid the money, because "you never know who might be listening in". Judging from Kasarov's visit later, he was right to be cautious.

* BeAWhoreToGetYourMan: Averted with Nick's "Girl Friday" Dallas, she pretty much just likes being the closest thing to a whore there is; she explains the time she was cast in a porno movie to Dr. Jarvis (in explicit details), but she also later rapes Casey.

* AllPsychologyIsFreudian: Played with. The conversation of Dr.Jarvis and Dallas revolves around the freudism.

* DiabolusExMachina: Kasarov played by Creator/MickeyRourke enters the stage pretty late. He is presented to be the most evil of all characters.

* GunsAkimbo: Casey during shootout at Ballpeen's.

* PrettyLittleHeadshots: Averted with Dallas.

* VillainessesWantHeroes: A heavily downplayed example. Dallas was more interested in Casey in the hopes she'd found someone more like her, only to be disappointed that he's reformed. That said, she didn't mind sitting on his lap and come close to licking his face. Although she decides she wants to have sex with him (rape him), it's less to do with being interested in him romantically or sexually and more to do with killing time. Although she tells him she'll kill him once she's finished, she's clearly enjoying it and talks as though he's enjoying too.