‘The true story of the original Kings of Cool’

Directed by:
Trevor King

Written by:
Trevor King

Cast:
Ray Wise (Sam), Andrew Divoff (Eddie), Jay Acovone (Molina), Trevor King (Rick), Shadoe Stevens (Steve Skylar), Nick Di Brizzi Jr. (Joey), Harry Karp (Ralphie), Bob Bennett (Jerry), Michelle Pierce (Dawn Skylar), Jenna Lee (Mrs. Skylar)

I picked up this DVD because I am a gangster film completist, not because it looked particularly good. It defied my expectations…in the worst possible way.

The main character is Sam, a charismatic performance by Ray Wise (Robocop, Twin Peaks, best thing about the movie). He is part of an unlikely idiotic gang of criminals, who come up with the plan to kidnap the daughter of a gameshow host.

Then Sam gets the unexpected visit from Rick, his son from an unmarital affair he had. He takes an immediate interest in father-son bonding, which seems peculiar for a sociopathic gangster who we’ve just seen eating a pizza after murdering a police officer. When Sam involves Rick in the kidnapping plot, things get really ridiculous really fast.

How come Rick is given all the crucial jobs in the kidnapping scheme just to name one thing? He has to seduce the target Dawn (who was gonna do it before Rick joined?) and he has to play a detective to convince the gameshow host to pay up. And how come these guys are so immensely stupid? They make those black robbers from Snatch look like criminal masterminds. There are way too many mistakes to list them all.

The actor who plays Rick is writer / director Trevor King. It is a miracle he got funding for this failed Reservoir Dogs rip-off, which is also known as Sharkskin 6. That aside, how did he get a cast and crew? Did nobody read the script and ask some critical questions? This movie should only be viewed as a curiosity. Trust me, it is U-N-B-E-L-I-E-V-A-B-L-E.

Rating:

Quote:
JOEY: “You sure this guy is not an undercover cop? I’ve seen that shit on Reservoir Dogs.”

Trivia:
Ray Wise’s daughter makes a cameo appearance in the film as one of the store robbery witnesses.